The Silence of a Scream
by Mockingjay34
Summary: The world is saved thanks to Ava Ayala. Katherine and Margret are assumed to be dead. So, is Ava. Everyone believes it. Everyone except Daniel Rand-K'ai. Now, he must save the love of his life after the rest of the world has given up hope. Silence is the most powerful scream. -Anonymous -Sequel to The Strongest of the Weak-
1. Prologue

**A/N I wasn't lying. I really did make a sequel. I'm really proud and I'm excited to get started on this new project of mine. I want to apologize himegirl15. Sorry, I haven't started yet. Life got in the way. I'll have the prologue up in two weeks max. So, please review. I want this story to be even better than the last with even more twists and surprises. So enjoy! R&R**

******Disclaimer: I don't own Ultimate Spider Man. Only the characters Katherine and Margret.**

* * *

The Silence of a Scream

**PROLOGUE:**

The breeze was whispering to the dark clouds covering the moon. Standing on Liberty Island was a certain superhero with a green and yellow costume. He was on the Statue of Liberty's torch ledge.

Danny reached behind his head and pulled on the tie that held on his mask. He pulled his mask away from his head and released it to the wind. He watched through strands of his unruly hair as it floated off into the night.

Silently, he pulled on a t-shirt, a pair of jeans, tennis shoes, and a hoodie over his costume.

As Danny began to walk away from the last place he had seen Ava he undid the band around his wrist. It fell to the green metal with a dull clunk.

There was no more Iron Fist. That side of his life has ruled for far too long. If there was ever a reason he needed to fulfill his duty again, he will, but for now, he is simply a teenage boy.

"One who knows every form of martial arts and has a wallet bigger than Bill Gates's," he thought bitterly.

Danny walked down the stairs and across Liberty Island to the dock where he climbed into a speedboat. He started the engine and sped away.

* * *

The streets of New York City were crowded even at this late hour. Danny walked with his head down, hands in his pockets. That did not help. Everyone knew who he was.

There was a chorus of 'Hey, I know who you are!' and 'Look! It's Daniel Rand!' as he walked down the sidewalk. It is times like these Danny really wished he were a normal teen. He did not need the money or the fame. In fact, he did not even want it.

The supposedly quiet murmurs were not an easy thing to endure when you are hiding from S.H.I.E.L.D. and whoever else may be looking for you.

"Just ignore them," he thought. "Just ignore them."

Danny did his best as he walked down the street. This was not going to be near as easy as he thought it would be.

Soon, the whispers become too much. He took the next left he could and found a small little hole-in-the-wall shop.

Danny pushed the door open and heard a small chiming coming from a bell above the door.

The barber's shop had no other customers. The only person in there other than Danny was an old man sweeping the floor.

"How may I help you, sir?" the man asked.

"Uh… Hi. I… uh… I'm tired of my hair. Think you can do something about it?"

"Of course I can, my boy. Just go sit down in a chair."

The man and Danny walk in front of a mirror with a chair in front of it. Danny sat down and the man turned the chair.

* * *

Danny walked down the street with his hands in his pockets and his head down.

It has been a day since he decided to drop off the world without a trace.

After he had his hair cut, Danny got new clothes and cut up his debit card. He opened a new account under a new name. In it, he put six million dollars. That should not raise much suspicion. He was in New York after all.

Now, Danny was setting out on his own. He could not return until he was done with his mission.

No one knows where he is. No one knows he left. And, when they do find out he is gone, they will have to figure out why on their own. Danny did not have time to explain.

He was going to find Ava Ayala.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N I'm not sure about this chapter. I mean I think it's a good start but I'm not thrilled. Just let me know what you think. And fair warning. I just got acrylic nails yesterday. I'm not very practiced with them. I did read this chapter and ran it through the Word document checker. But, if there are any mistakes at all just let me know please. I hate grammar and spelling mistakes more than anything. If you don't know what acrylic nails are, look them up and then you will understand what I am going through. I want to thank everyone who reviews, favorites, or follows my stories. you all make me smile. :) I also want to wish everyone happy and safe holidays. **

**I know this is getting a bit long-winded, but, please, just bare with me. If you live in the United States of America then you know what happened Friday, December 14, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut at Sandy Hook Elementary School. I just want to say, pray for these people. Everyday on my way to school or Christmas shopping I see flags hung at half mast. It breaks my heart. I don't live there. I live all the way across the country, but even here, in my little hometown, we are remembering. I just want to leave you with that. **

**R&R**

**********Disclaimer: I don't own Ultimate Spider Man. Only the characters Katherine and Margret.**

* * *

**CHAPTER1:**

Today was the first day back to S.H.I.E.L.D. training. What was remaining of the teenage team of superheroes had had their time to mourn but life must go on.

The usually loud boys were quiet as they did what they had to for the day. They had no reason to try to enjoy it. Nothing was the same now.

The only people who were there were Sam, Peter, and Luke. Danny did not show up and Ava was… well, Ava was not expected to come.

Danny was not completely expected to come either. There was an unspoken agreement to leave him alone for while.

Nothing was the same now. Their small family has been shattered at the roots. Nothing would ever be the same again. Ava was dead and she was not coming back. Danny was most likely depressed and did not intend to come back.

Nothing would be the same without them. Not even Sam and Peter were arguing. After so much had changed, they had no desire to continue their childish games.

The robots were easy to defeat as usual. At least not everything had changed. The three of them decided to get lunch.

As they all sat down in the little S.H.I.E.L.D. cafeteria, they were silent. This is how life has been since that night.

"I can't take this anymore," Sam suddenly burst out, startling his two companions. "I just can't take everyone being so quiet. We are all going to go insane if we don't stop this. Please, let's try to get back to some screwed up sense of normal."

"How can we Sam?" Peter asked giving the boy a look that could make Nick Fury cower in fear. "How can we ever get back to normal? Normal doesn't exist anymore. Ava is dead and Danny has gone AWOL! How do you expect us to ever even have the illusion of normal again?"

"I don't know! But this can't go on! It just can't." Sam's throat was tight with tears.

The silence returned to the three heroes. Normal was not coming back.

Because nothing was the same now.

* * *

Another day. Another hotel. Another name. Another story.

This was life now. There was no Daniel Rand. There was no Iron Fist. That is all just a distant memory now.

Arnold Johnson on a business trip, John Arnoldson the tourist, or someone of the sort has taken his place. Danny was now just another face to another host at another inn.

Ava has not tried to make any more contact since that one dream.

Sometimes he wonders if he really saw her.

It has been a week since then.

Every night Danny remembers. He cannot help it. The memories just come to him. Every night he wonders where he went wrong.

Why did he always bring so much destruction?

Why did everyone he love end up hurt?

What did he do to deserve this?

What did Ava do to deserve this?

Danny fell back onto the bed he was sitting on and covered his eyes with his hands. Nothing made sense. His mind was a jumbled mess of thoughts and confusion all glued together with guilt and sadness.

This was completely his fault. He should never have messed up this badly. There is absolutely no way to reverse what has happened.

This is how every night went. This onslaught of thoughts and doubts and worries.

Where is Ava?

How will he find her?

How could he have prevented this?

Could it have been prevented?

Danny did not really care about the all answers to those questions. All he really cared about was finding Ava. That is what his life revolved around. He would stop at nothing until he found her. Until she was safe in his arms. Until his lips were pressed against hers again.

Do we have to fall in love?

Can love be stopped?

Is it possible to resist falling for someone?

Why do we fall in love?

We dream of better futures during the lowest points in our life. We see evil, sadness, and cruelty every day. We see people give everything and try so hard just to fail in life. Yet, we still have love and happiness given to us. That has to mean something. Not to give up.

When you truly love someone, can you ever stop?

What is love?

Does it have limitations?

Why must it be so irrevocable?

So many things can be altered. There are so many factors that can be manipulated. Nothing is simple and straightforward. This, Danny has learned. He has discovered what he was meant to do. Now, he knows why everything played out the way it did. This is his fate.

But, he still wonders, what will come of this?

Will he save Ava?

Will he die trying?

Can a seemingly doomed fate be changed?

* * *

"She has failed me. She was wrong for this. It was not her destiny. I see this now. I also see that you are perfect for this.

"That girl, that despicable, insolent child had seen too much good in life. She had much to live for. A life to go back to. You don't.

"There is nothing waiting for you. I am all you have now. You have seen so much death and evil that it will be easily mimicked. I have full confidence in you and your abilities.

"She was equally powerful, most likely even better than you. But she did not possess the ability to obey and follow. You are different. You will fulfill what must be done. I know it. You may be a bit rough around the edges but that is nothing that I cannot fix.

Look at me."

Blue eyes met golden brown. The gazes never strayed. The two just stared at each other.

Then, something happened. Something nearly invisible.

The smallest of sparks of purple stained one of the golden eyes.

"Very good, child. You are exactly what I was looking for."


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N Well, it is really late or really early depending on how you look at it. I decided to go ahead and write this tonight. Any confusion about anything just let me know. Also, same warning about the acrylic nails. This still isn't easy. I hope you like this chapter. I did. I hope none of the characters are OOC. Let me know if they ever are. My only reasoning for making Danny so violent in my stories so far is because we've seen him get aggravated in the show before. I can just see him getting like this when it is someone he loves. Also, what did you all think of the ending to that last chapter. Who was that and what's happening. Lemme no what you think. And, remember, acrylics. :) R&R**

**********Disclaimer: I don't own Ultimate Spider Man. Only the characters Katherine and Margret.**

* * *

**CHAPTER2:**

**One Week Later**

_1 New Message From:_

_Luke Cage_

Ignore.

_1 New Message From:_

_Peter Parker_

Ignore.

_1 New Message From:_

_Sam Alexander_

Ignore.

_Incoming Call From:_

_Luke Cage_

Reject.

"Will no one leave me alone?" Danny thought. "If I wanted to talk to them I would have answered days ago.

_1 New Message From:_

_Luke Cage_

Danny sighed in exasperation at his friends' persistence. He finally decided to open the messages to see what they wanted now.

_Messages From Peter Parker: _

_Peter: yo. dude. where r u? we hvent seen u 4 days._

_Messages From Sam Alexander:_

_Sam: danny come on. at least answer some1._

_Messages From Luke Cage:_

_Luke: please dnt ignore me ths time. _

_Luke: if u reject another call i will jump thrgh ths phone & beat the livin crud outta u._

_Danny: wow luke. amazing way 2 spk knd wrds. _

_Luke: u wont lstn any other way._

_Danny: im lstning now. wht do u wnt?_

_Luke: we'er all wrried sck bout u. what hppnd!? u drppd off the face of the earth!_

_Danny: tht was the idea. _

_Luke: y? y wld u just leave?_

_Danny: theres somethng i have 2 do. _

_Luke: like what?_

_Danny: nthng. _

_Luke: it has 2 b more thn nthn just dtch us._

_Danny: i didnt dtch u. i just nd some time away._

_Luke: time away is a wknd. uv bn gone 4 2 wks._

_Danny: …_

_Luke: u nd 2 come home._

_Danny: i cant. i have unfnshd bsness._

_Luke: if ths is bout ava just tell us. _

_Danny: … _

_Luke: danny. is ths bout ava?_

_Danny: ths will b the lst time u hear from me 4 a while. gdbye luke._

_Luke: man dnt do ths. we can help u. we knw what ur going through._

_Danny: u will nv knw what i am going through._

Danny pressed down on the top button on his phone.

_slide to power off_

His finger hovered over the red arrow before he finally slid his finger across the path with the words. He saw a spinning loading signal, then the screen went black.

Anger boiled inside of Danny like lava. He has never been so angry. He was shaking all over.

His right fist began to glow brighter than ever. He was crushing the phone in his hand from the force. In a fit of anger, Danny launched the phone across the hotel suite's bathroom.

It smashed to pieces against the porcelain of the tub.

He stood there in the bathroom with his eyes closed. It was not very often that Danny lost control. When he does though, his peaceful exterior quickly disappears.

He gained some level of peace and walked over the broken phone lying all over the bottom of the bathtub.

Danny looked down and saw his reflection in the shattered bits of chrome.

"The metaphor of my life in a tub," he said to the air as he turned the knob so water would begin to run.

"Shattered bits down the drain."

* * *

"Well, that went well," Luke said to no one in particular. His conversation with Danny was much less than comfortable.

"What did he say?" Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., asked.

"Apparently there's something he's got to do but he wouldn't tell me what. It has something to do with Ava's death though," Luke answered grimly. "He said he's not coming back until it's done either."

Nick leaned back in the chair he was sitting in and scrubbed both of his hands down his exhausted looking face.

"Great. Just great," he muttered.

"Director Fury, we can go find Danny and bring him back. It'll be easy. Three against one," Sam suggested.

"That's not my problem Alexander. The problem is I have the council breathing down my neck because of what's happening right now."

"What do you mean? What council?" Peter asked.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. is a covert agency. You all know that. We're run by the U.N. There is a council of representatives from the U.N. that tells me what I can and can't do. I run S.H.I.E.L.D. but they run me. Essentially, they are my bosses. And, I've pissed them off."

"What happened to make them angry?" Luke asked, sitting up.

"It goes back a little bit to how this all started. This team was my idea. But, to get it started I had to go to the council to get it approved.

"I guess I should start from the beginning. You all know what the Avengers Initiative is right?"

"Yeah. It was the plan to start the Avengers," Sam answered.

"Exactly. It was the plan to have a team of the best superheroes in the business to defend the world if it was needed. The plan was shot down. But, eventually, it was brought back out to be used. You know what happened with the tesseract.

"I unofficially started the program when Loki came and stole the tesseract. The council wasn't too happy with my unauthorized order.

"About a year ago I came up with a new idea. What if what was wrong with the Avengers was that we were using trained adults? What if we used kids or, better yet, teenagers? The idea was to create a new team of the best teenage heroes. The requirements were dedication, skill, and they had to be rookies. That way S.H.I.E.L.D. could teach them what we thought necessary to make them great. Essentially mold these teenager vigilantes into The Greats."

Nick stood and walked over to a table where a file was sitting. He picked it up and sat back down in his seat. He threw the folder down onto the table. Across it in big red letters were the words:

The Next Avengers Initiative

"It was approved," Nick stated. "I spent months picking five of the best, most talented teen superheroes I could find out of thousands that had powers. That took a lot of digging."

Luke tentatively reached forward and pulled the folder toward Peter, Sam, and himself. When they flipped it open they were greeted by a picture of Ava. She looked a bit younger. Maybe 15 or 16. Underneath was her entire S.H.I.E.L.D. profile. Everything about her.

"My first choice was Ava. I knew she would accept just because she wanted to prove herself. And she was incredibly talented. She was 15, nearly 16, when I chose her. She was the youngest of my five choices.

"The next was Danny."

Luke flipped the page to see a picture of his best friend when he was about seven years old.

"These are the original files I had for all of you. Danny had gone missing for 10 years. That was the most recent photo I had at the time. I got in touch with his master to get him to accept."

The page was flipped again to see an unfamiliar person. It was not a photo. The picture was in ink and paint on yellowed parchment. The 16 year old girl in the picture was smiling. She had black hair that went to her waist and bright blue eyes. Next to her was a boy about the same age. He had shoulder-length, dirty-blonde hair and green eyes. He was much taller than her.

"Katherine," Peter said. "Is that Danny next to her?"

"Yeah. We didn't want the prospected recruits to know yet so I contacted the same man in K'un-Lun to get me some type of picture of her for our file. They had a new painting done for it. The only way not to raise suspicion was to have one done of the two of them together. In K'un-Lun, they didn't have electricity or technology as you know.

"Then there was you, Luke. Lastly I added you, Sam. I added you last because there was debate if your powers should be used here because they are an alien type that we aren't familiar with. In the end, I obviously won that argument.

"After Katherine was marked as 'rogue' I had to pick one more person. That's how I got you, Peter. I waited so long because I wanted to watch you in action a little bit more before I made a commitment."

"Wow. I didn't realize what this was all about," Luke said in awe. "I knew what I was signing on to do. I just didn't know the time and effort put into this."

"More than you'd believe, kid," Nick said.

"So, how did you make your bosses mad?" Sam asked.

"They let me have this program to redo the Avengers. Everything has been going great. You all have grown so much and become so good at what you do. Then, everything went downhill.

"After everything started happening with Katherine a few months ago, the council began to doubt me on this project. Too many bad things were happening because of Danny's past. They said that it was getting in the way of the big picture of it all. I assured them everything would be fine.

"Then, Ava was KIA. The council members made it clear that if one more thing went wrong their decision would be… reconsidered.

"Now, I have a grief-stricken, teenage boy, who has supernatural powers, with unknown motives and intentions, running loose in the world. The council may consider this as 'one more thing'," Nick explained.

"So, if we can't get Danny back here without incident then, we'll be…" Peter began.

"Yes. The Next Avengers Initiative will be disbanded."


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N I'm back! I'm super psyched to get to working more on this story. I started writing it and scrapped everything like four days ago. Now, I'm updating with new chapters. I made my decision. This will be a trilogy. Sorry if I'm long-winded with my story line. I'm having fun so I'm gonna go with it. It will be called The Beginning of the End. I'm gonna try to write a story in a week. It will be called Erased. Anyway, Let me know what you think. I live to see the words 'FanFiction [New Review] for The Silence of a...' (That's all the e-mail on my iPod shows). R&R!**

**************Disclaimer: I don't own Ultimate Spider Man. Only the characters Katherine and Margret.**

* * *

**CHAPTER3:**

"But, director Fury, what would happen to us. Where would we all go?" Luke asked.

"They can't just kick us out of S.H.I.E.L.D. can they? This is our home. I have nowhere else to go," Sam said.

"I know. But, listen, we'll be fine. We can get out of this. I'm not gonna let them get rid of you all. Don't worry," Nick started. "I just had to tell you. I'm sending out a team to bring Danny back. It shouldn't be too hard. If it shows to be more difficult then, I'm sending you three out. I don't want the council finding out that Danny has gone off on his own. That wouldn't end well for anyone.

"We can't afford anymore collateral damage."

The three boys stood up straight and saluted the man that has given them this life.

"Yes, sir," they said in unison.

* * *

8,244,910.

There are 8,244,910 people in New York City.

And every last one of them has bumped shoulders with Danny today.

Why is it that when you so desperately want to stay hidden it seems as if every person on the planet sees you?

Danny just added it to the list of questions he had for God when he finally died and went to heaven. That list was becoming ever-increasingly longer.

The most pressing one of all was how do you find someone that is all but dead?

Simple answer?

No one knows.

He had been searching for two weeks. His attempts seem futile. They mainly consisted of checking where he thought she might be.

That has obviously gotten him nowhere.

What was he going to do?

Danny looked over his shoulder at the person that had just bumped into him.

The man was wearing a black and blue pullover sweatshirt. He turned his head and made eye contact with Danny. That one motion revealed the small but recognizable S.H.I.E.L.D. emblem on his shirt.

Danny began walking faster through the crowd. The agent turned and began to follow. The younger of the two turned his head. He was being followed by two more men. He took off running.

He heard a commotion as the three S.H.I.E.L.D. agents ran after him. Danny took the steps down to the subway and got on the train. The doors closed right as the first man made it to the door. They closed and Danny gave the elder a smirk.

It is times like these he is grateful for those 8,244,910 people.

* * *

Danny took the subway all the way downtown. When it stopped he got off and found himself faced with the same three agents.

He immediately scanned his surroundings for an escape route. His eyes landed on the crowded stairs to the busy New York streets.

"Agent Rand, think about this before you act," The man in the middle said.

"I already did," he replied darkly.

Everything slowed. Each move was perfectly calculated as Danny turned and began to take off in the opposite direction of the stairs.

All three men acted on instinct. They went in the exact same direction Danny did. He faked them out and made a break for the stairs.

People moved out of the way, as he sprinted through the crowds. The agents were pursuing him.

Danny looked back over his shoulder and cursed. They were closer than he had anticipated.

Fight or flight.

The automatic response for every human being.

Being a pacifist, Danny normally chooses flight.

But, sometimes, fight is essential.

He took a left down a dead end alleyway. He stopped and turned when he reached the brick wall at the end.

The three S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had their guns drawn and pointed at Danny.

"Agent Rand, you have to come with us. This has gone too far. We can help. S.H.I.E.L.D. can help," one of the men stated.

Danny did not make any move to come peacefully. He just stood there with his hands clasped behind his back.

"If you don't come with us you will become an enemy of S.H.I.E.L.D. and you will be labeled as a traitor and rogue. This is your last chance before we have to forcibly take you into custody."

"Good luck," Danny stated plainly.

The teenager unfolded his hands and took a fighting stance. This was a shot in the dark.

"I can't take them on my own," the boy thought. "Three on one. That's too many."

"But, you have to," his other inner voice argued. "Ava."

At this, his right fist began to glow yellow.

The agents across from him got ready to defend themselves.

Danny took in a deep breath through his nose and held it, waiting.

"You'll regret this," he said.

Slowly, he let the breath out through his mouth.

* * *

Nick walked through the halls of the helicarrier with Sam, Luke, and Peter in tow.

He was furious. Plain and simple. He was furious.

"How could this happen?" he thought.

He was not even sure about what happened. He had been told to come down to the infirmary and that they were back. He did not know who 'they' were.

But, he would bet money that his agents ended up having to hurt Danny to get him here.

Nick burst through the doors to reveal that he would have lost his money.

"Where is Danny?" he asked. In the room sitting on separate beds were three S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. They all had bruise, cuts, and black eyes.

"Kid was skilled, Fury," one of the men said.

"Yeah," another chimed in. "What the heck were you teaching him?"

"Wait. Danny did this to you all?" Luke asked.

"Yep. Kicked our butts," the first answered.

"No way. He's a pacifist," Sam responded.

"Hm," the third man started. "That's most definitely a load of bull-"

"Well, we did provoke him," the first man said, cutting off the one that was talking previously. "We had our guns on him."

Fury let out an exasperated breath. "What part of 'Don't scare the crap out of him' do you three _not_ understand?"

"Trust us Nick. There was nothing scared about that kid. Vicious, maybe. But, not scared."

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents told the story of what happened with Danny. Apparently, he was bent on not coming back.

Fury let out a sigh. This could not continue. He was not letting these kids be put out on the street because one woman, who had serious mental issues, decided she wanted to take over the world.

He looked at the three boys with him. The only one of them with any family left they can go back to was Peter. If the Next Avengers Initiative was shut down, he was the only one who could go back to his old life.

There was no guarantee the council would let Sam stay with S.H.I.E.L.D. and continue his training as an Avenger like the initial plan was. Luke's family thought he was dead. He could not go back to them.

They had nowhere else to go.

Nick made the one decision he could that would save them.

"You three know what you have to do."


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N I have a bit of a surprise in this chapter towards the end. Hope you all don't hate me for it. R&R!**

**************Disclaimer: I don't own Ultimate Spider Man. Only the characters Katherine and Margret.**

* * *

**CHAPTER4:**

In the past months, silence had not been uncommon among the young heroes.

Sometimes, silence speaks louder than words.

"What are we going to do?" Luke asked. "We have no way to find Danny. I mean those were highly trained S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that were chasing him."

"I know," Sam started. "And he kicked their butts."

"Sam," Peter said forcefully. "Don't. Just don't, okay? We can't be negative right now."

"Sorry," Sam said, looking down in embarrassment.

"And, besides, Danny beat them so easily because they didn't know him like we do. To them, Danny was just another rogue agent. To us, he's a friend," Peter continued. "We know both his strengths and weaknesses. We can use those against him."

"But, we still don't know how to find him," Luke reminded the group.

"We have to try," Peter said. "And not just for our sakes. Not because we're afraid to be put out on the street. We have to do this for Danny. Danny is a brother. He's mourning the loss of our sister like we did, just more. He loved her more than anything. We all know how it feels to love someone then lose them. We have to try, for both of them. We can't just give up."

Sam stood abruptly and said, "Let's go. I have an idea on where we can look."

The remaining three members of the team left the helicarrier with a new hope.

The outcome of their fate was in their hands now.

* * *

"Why are we here again? I mean seriously, man? This is the best you could come up with?" Luke asked Sam.

They were walking across Liberty Island.

"I don't see you coming up with any ideas about where to look," Sam said.

"Okay, but, really, why are we here?" Luke asked again.

"If this has something to do with Ava then Danny would have come back to the place where she… Well, you know," Sam explained.

"Yeah, good thinking, Bucket Head," Peter said. He began to hit buttons on his watch and brought up a map of New York. There were three blinking, red dots on the display.

"Those are Danny's three trackers. One in his watch, one in his phone, and one on his mask," he explained.

"Where are they?"

"Well, the mask is in the middle of New York Harbor, the phone is in a sewage drop-off in the Atlantic Ocean, and the watch is on the Statue of Liberty."

"Great," Sam said.

"Did you think this would be easy?" Luke asked.

"No, but I was hoping Danny would forget about one of the trackers."

"Anyway, does anyone have any more ideas?" Peter asked.

The only thing that answered him was the wind.

"Where did he go when he left the memorial?" Luke asked.

"I think Fury said something about his office," Sam answered.

"Then shouldn't we look there?" Luke suggested.

* * *

That was much easier said than done.

"I'm sorry, sir, but you cannot go up to Mr. Rand's office without an appointment," the secretary said to a very irritated Nova.

"Lady, do you not understand that I am with a government agency? And that I have to get into Mr. Rand's office."

"Let me see a badge then you can go say hi to the maintenance crew in the boiler room if that is what you want to do," the secretary answered, never looking away from her computer screen.

"Can you at least tell me if he's here?" Nova asked.

The woman finally looked up at the costumed teenager in front of her. She raised a penciled eyebrow. "A government agency you say? Which one? I don't know of any that let you dress like that."

Nova let out an exasperated breath. Spider Man and Power Man were waiting for him outside. He really wished someone else had to deal with this woman. "Oh, so now you care? S.H.I.E.L.D. if you must know."

"Never heard of it. What does it stand for?"

"Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division. Now, may I have access to his office?"

"Do you have a badge yet?"

"Oh, my gosh! You are impossible! Can you or can you not tell me if Daniel Rand is in the building?"

"No, he isn't. The co-owner came in earlier this morning though. Mr. Rand has mono. He sent in his co-owner about two weeks ago to take his place until he is better."

That caught Nova off guard. "Co-owner?" he thought.

"How can there be a co-owner if Mr. Rand isn't married?"

"He doesn't have to be. When he filled out the paperwork and the company was signed over to him he had the option to put down a second person's name that would be allowed to run the company in his absence."

"Can you call the co-owner and ask if I can come up?" Nova tried.

"Do you have a badge?"

"Oh, never mind!" Nova yelled, walking out of the lobby and to his friends outside.

"Let me guess," Power Man said, "She wouldn't let you go upstairs, would she?"

"The idiot kept asking me for a badge. And, apparently, he isn't here but his co-owner is. Has been for two weeks because of the mono story. Danny signed something saying that person could take over if he couldn't."

"Okay, my turn," Power Man said.

"And what are you going to do to get in there?"

"Just gimme a minute." Power Man walked off around a corner. A few minutes later he walked back around in civilian clothes, he was carrying a bag and a cup of coffee. "Get to his office balcony and I'll come up and open the doors for you two."

The two superheroes staid put and watched as Luke walked in and said, "Afternoon, Jen." He held up the bag and coffee. "Danny asked me to bring this to the co-owner as a small thank you for working so hard for the past couple of weeks."

"Alright, Luke," the secretary answered. "I'm pretty there is only paperwork. Shouldn't be any meetings today."

"Thanks."

Spider Man and Nova just looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.

They made their way up to the balcony where Luke was waiting for them.

"How do you know her?" Nova asked, annoyed.

"Whenever Danny wasn't either at school or with us he was here. It is his business. I'm the person that brings him Chinese food and coffee when he's too busy to leave," Luke answered.

"Coffee? Ugh," Sam asked disgusted. He could not stand the bitter liquid.

"Yeah, the dude lives on caffeine. He doesn't even pretend to act like a normal teenager. For Danny, there is only school, office work, training, more office work, then whatever assignment we may have that night."

"Wow, I didn't realize," Peter said.

"But, Danny's poor social life isn't the most important thing right now," Luke said. He started to pull his shirt and pants off to reveal his Power Man Costume. He slipped on his sunglasses and showed the other two boys Danny's desk.

The usually cluttered mess was completely straightened and in order. There were no scattered papers and files. There were small holders with things like paper clips, rubber bands, and pins sitting neatly next to a stapler and other office equipment. A bottle of scented, pink hand sanitizer sat in a corner next to a small mirror. In a little bin next to the computer were random objects.

Spider Man dumped its contents on the desk. Ponytail holders, lip-glosses, bobby pins, and various types of makeup came tumbling out.

"You all better put everything back exactly where you found it," said a feminine voice. Someone had come in and the boys had not heard her. "I like my desk in a specific order."

Slowly, they all raised their heads to meet the friendly gaze from the girl across from them.

She was about 17 years old and had black hair that fell in black ringlets to her waist. She had on a black pen-skirt that stopped right above her knees and a purple over-sized top that fell off one shoulder. Under was a black camisole. She also had black heels and her makeup was done perfectly to accent her eyes.

The girl let an easy smile make its way onto her face.

The teenage superheroes could not take their eyes away from the girl.

Not only because they were shocked but also because she was absolutely beautiful.

"No need to gawk. Now, sit down and make yourselves comfortable. There is a lot we need to talk about," she said.

The boys did as they were told and watched as the girl walked around the desk and sat down in the chair.

"So, I don't think I have ever actually introduced myself. Hello, my name is Katherine Malince."


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N I genuinely want Katherine to be a likable character. Don't be hating on her. Give the girl a chance. R&R!**

**************Disclaimer: I don't own Ultimate Spider Man. Only the characters Katherine and Margret.**

* * *

**CHAPTER5:**

"Well, don't just sit there you three. You all are making me feel like I'm Hydra or something. Seriously, I don't have five heads," Katherine said.

"Uh, sorry. Katherine?" Spider Man asked.

"Yeah?" she asked confidently.

"Not, to be rude or anything but, why are you here?"

"I'll answer any questions you have. But, first, I want to know who I'm talking to. I know the names of everyone in your team but I can't put names with faces. I knew who Daniel was from years of knowing him and Ava was an easy guess considering she was the only girl. So, if you don't mind, can you all take your masks and such items off?"

The superheroes looked at each other uncertainly.

"Look, I'll make you a deal. If you don't tell anybody that I'm a murderer I won't tell your identities. Now, off with the masks. If I can't see your eyes then there is an issue," Katherine said.

The boys obeyed and pulled off anything that covered their faces.

"Hm," she started, "Well, I know you're Luke." She pointed a finger at the mentioned boy. "Who's Peter and who's Sam?"

"I'm Peter."

"Sam."

"That wasn't too hard," she decided with a smile.

"How are you alive?" Peter asked.

"That is a tricky question. I'm afraid, I don't have the answer," Katherine said.

"Okay, then why are you here?"

"Back when we were first approached by S.H.I.E.L.D. Daniel had to set everything with the press. He was expected to take over Rand. He filled out all of the paperwork and decided he wanted to designate someone to take his place if he couldn't take care of the business. It's called a 'co-owner' but that person never really does anything. Because we were going to be superheroes, Daniel put my name down. He trusted me to take care of everything and I knew his secret. Since the day he took over there has been money going into a bank account with my name on it.

"After everything happened three weeks ago I came here and acted like I was supposed to be here. I gave his mono excuse to his secretary and the papers were pulled. Sure enough, Rand Co. is still signed to Daniel Rand and Katherine Malince. He forgot to remove me from co-owner. Now, I run everything," Katherine explained.

"Wow, there is a lot he never told us," Luke said.

"Sorta," she agreed.

"Okay, new question," Sam started. "How did you know Danny wasn't gonna come waltzing through that door to run his company and try to get back to a normal life? What made you so sure he would run away?"

"Because, I know the truth, just like Daniel does."

"What truth? Danny said he had something to do. We know it has something to do with Ava, but we have no clue what it is," Luke told the girl.

"Let's start from the beginning, shall we?" she asked. "When the three off us fell that night we didn't land in the water. I'm not even that sure about what happened. It had something to do with magic though."

"Magic? Really? You expect us to believe in magic?" Sam asked.

"Sam, trust me, magic is real," Peter said, remembering his and Danny's encounter with Nightmare.

"Anyway," Katherine started, "all I know is that I didn't die. I had been unconscious for at least 10 minutes. When I woke up, Margret and Ava were gone. I immediately ran. I was afraid of what S.H.I.E.L.D. would do to me.

"I hid for about a week until all the hype about Ava's death had gone down and everyone began talking about White Tiger. I watched when Daniel left after the memorial.

"I was at the memorial for Ava. I stayed in the back where no one would pay me any attention. I left first, right before Daniel. I followed him all the way here. I watched as he got ready to leave. He left a note on the desk. After I was sure he was gone, I snuck in and reorganized. I came in the next day. I told everyone that Daniel's mono took a turn for the worse and he had gone into intensive care. I've been tracking him since that night he left, making sure he doesn't get into too much trouble."

"So, you were there when he beat the crap outta those S.H.I.E.L.D. agents?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. And he did not beat the crap out of them. I would have stepped in before then. I just waited it out until I stopped laughing. That gave me a good kick. But, Daniel had the good sense to stop before he hurt them more severely. He just made sure they wouldn't be chasing him anymore. And, for the record, he tried to out run them before he decided to kick their butts into last week. I didn't think he had it in him. I sat on a rooftop and watched that entire fight. I was ready to step in to make sure the agents didn't hurt him too bad. Let them knock some sense into him. Boy, was I wrong."

Seven minutes. They had been talking for seven minutes and all three superheroes had made their decision about this girl. She was hilarious.

All four of the teenagers were laughing, hard. Something about watching Danny take on three grown men and win was just funny.

"But, anyway, he hasn't caused too much havoc," Katherine said. "Although, he did cut off all his hair. That I hated. I have been telling him to cut it for years and, now that he has, I really wish it was back to normal."

"He cut his hair?" Luke asked. "Why?"

"He was too recognizable. I mean, how many 17 year old multibillionaires with shoulder length blonde hair do you know?"

"One," they all answer in unison.

"Exactly."

They all start to laugh again.

The group began to calm down and seriousness returned.

"What is the truth? I mean you say you know and Danny knows, but what do you know?" Peter asked.

"Well, isn't it obvious?" Katherine asked.

She got silence in response.

"I made it out of the fall. I'm sitting here across from you three right now. I'm completely real."

"Yeah?"

Katherine let out an exasperated sigh. She recollected herself and sat up straighter.

"Ava Ayala is alive."


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N I tried to make Katherine funny and flirty. i hope I've succeeded. My friend was reading this and said that she is a lot like me. -_- Well, I like her. Let me know. R&R!**

**************Disclaimer: I don't own Ultimate Spider Man. Only the characters Katherine and Margret.**

* * *

**CHAPTER6:**

"You know, I was really hoping you were sane. Guess we don't always get what we want," Sam said. He stood and put on his helmet. "Come on guys."

"Sam," Katherine said, also standing up now. "I'm not crazy. There are just some things that you don't understand right now and I don't know how to explain well enough. Just, hear me out."

"You do realize that you are trying to tell us that the person, our sister, who we've been mourning for weeks, is alive? There is no way. She would have come to us. Ava would not have abandoned us to think she was dead. More importantly, she would not have abandoned Danny!" he yelled at her.

"Man, calm down," Luke said.

"No! I'm not going to calm down! This is the only family I have ever had! I'm trying to accept the fact that Ava is dead while this psycho is trying to tell me she isn't on a feeling! I'm done with this," Sam said while walking toward the doors to the open balcony.

"Sam Alexander, do not walk out that door," Katherine said in a voice seeping with authority.

"And what are you going to do about it?" he asked. Sam began floating about a foot above the floor.

At lightning speed Katherine threw open a drawer and launched a dull knife at Nova. The impact threw him against the wall. The knife snagged his clothes and held him there.

"That," she answered.

"You know," Peter said laughing, "I really like you."

"Yeah? Well I don't," Sam said, pulling out knife and jumping down.

"Now, Sam, do you want to come back here and talk about this calmly?" Katherine asked.

"Actually, Katherine, I think we should go back to base. Fury needs to hear all this," Luke said.

"Alright. We can go in a minute. Just let me get my stuff together. I'm probably not coming back and I'm trying to make a huge deal with China right now."

She pulled out an American Eagle bag and started stuffing files from drawers into it. She opened another drawer, pulled out a pink laptop bag with the laptop in it, and stuffed it into the bag. Lastly, Katherine pulled a pin out of her hair and took a cap off the butterfly shape. It was a flash drive. She moved her mouse to unlock the computer and started punching in the password.

"How did you know the password to Danny's computer?" Peter asked. The other three superheroes started pulling on their masks to leave.

"How don't I?

'Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.'

"That is Daniel's favorite line. It makes him remember there are always two choices. And you must always choose one when you come to a crossroads. You may regret that choice and you don't know how life could've turned out if you took the other one, but you cannot turn back," Katherine explained. "I knew what language because he has always been rather fond of Chinese. Luckily, I am his equal when it comes to skill level from a mental standpoint.

"Just let me change, then we can go." She walked over to a closet and went inside. When she came back out, she was dressed in what the boys thought was her infamous black costume. It was not until she came closer and they got a closer glance that they noticed the differences.

It still had the stilettos and it was still in black spandex, but that is where the similarities stopped.

The outfit was in two pieces now. The bottom half, that was now her pants, were exactly the same as before. They started on her hips and were skintight. The top was completely different. It had a v-neck that did not show too much and the hem was right where her ribcage stopped. The mask still only covered her eyes but now around her eyes were tendrils of black that branched across her cheeks, temples, and forehead.

Katherine had pulled her hair up into a messy bun at the base of her neck. Now you could see that she had two piercings in both her earlobes with little fake diamond studs. She had her cartilage pierced in her left ear with the same type of stud. The last noticeable change was a bellybutton piercing with the same clear crystal look.

The three teenage boys could not take their eyes away from the girl as she walked to her desk and applied dark red lipstick. She looked up from her little mirror and saw the looks she was getting.

"Again with the staring!" she laughed. "And, I don't have to be a mind reader to know exactly what you all thinking." They all looked away embarrassed. "So, how do we get to the helicarrier?" she asked.

"Uh, well, Nova can fly, I can use my Spider Cycle, and Power Man has a jet pack. So, depends, who do you want to go with?" Peter asked.

"Since I'm aggravated at Nova and I'm already petrified at the idea of going up that high already, you and Power Man can decide," Katherine answered.

"You take her, Spidey," Power Man said. "God meant for me to stay on the ground so I'm not exactly comfortable going up in a jet pack by myself, especially not while holding onto someone else so they don't fall."

"Looks like you're coming with me, Kath-" Peter started.

"Just call me Kat," Katherine said with a small smile.

"Alright. Looks like you're coming with me, Kat," he said.

Nova grabbed Power Man under the arms and flew out the window. Spider Man and Katherine walked out onto the balcony. He came up behind her and asked, "Want some help getting down?"

"Sure."

Spider Man wrapped an arm snuggly around her waist and helped her up onto the ledge. Below them, they could barely see Power Man and Nova heading for the ground. Katherine let out a squeal of fright.

"What's wrong?" Spider Man asked.

"I have a terrible fear of heights."

"It's alright," he said, wrapping his arm around her waist again. "Wrap your arms around my neck." The girl quickly obeyed. "Okay, I'm gonna go now. If you keep your eyes open, don't look down. Just look at me. Alright, are you ready?"

"Yeah."

"Here goes nothing." Spider Man shot out a web toward a building and jumped. Katherine let out a startled scream as her stomach dropped into her feet. She tightened her arms around his neck as he released the strand and threw out a new one. Peter smiled under his mask.

Soon, they landed safely on solid ground.

"Oh, thank God," Katherine exclaimed. "I really hate heights."

Spider Man just laughed. "Then you are really gonna hate getting to H.Q."

Everyone was ready to go. Spider Man had gotten Katherine on his bike and gave Nova and Power Man the thumbs up. He climbed on his bike behind the girl and brought his arms around her to grab the handles.

"Ready Kat?"

"As I'll ever be Web Head."

Spider Man took off on his bike. He shot out a web and Katherine squeezed her eyes shut.

Within minutes, they were in the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters in the sky.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N Again, forgive me. Yes, I did it. Just give the idea a chance. (You'll understand in aproimately five minutes.) R&R!**

**************Disclaimer: I don't own Ultimate Spider Man. Only the characters Katherine and Margret.**

* * *

**CHAPTER7:**

"Power Man, why did you want me to meet you all here?" Nick asked, slightly annoyed. "Have you found Danny yet?"

"No, sir, but we have someone you will probably want to talk to."

"Who?"

Power Man and Nova walked into the room and sat down at the table. Then, Peter put his hand on the small of Katherine's back and led her into the room. She carefully reached behind her head and untied the strings keeping her mask on.

"Uh, hello, director Fury," she said. Peter pulled off his mask just like his companions and led the girl inside the room.

"Who are you?" Nick asked.

"My name is… my name is Katherine Malince," she said.

"You're Katherine? The same Katherine that I tried to recruit to this team?"

"Yes."

"Welcome. I was really hoping you weren't dead. Did you get the things I sent to your office?"

"Yes, I did."

"And."

"I would be honored."

"Great, let's get started then."

"Uh, Katherine, why don't you sit down? I think we're going to be here for a while," Peter said.

"So, um, director Fury," Katherine said, "should I start from the beginning?"

"Actually, I know more than you all may think. I few weeks ago I was watching Rand Co. and I noticed that it was being controlled by someone. So, I did some digging and found out who could be doing that. I traced that feed right back to you. Your bank account was active, there were sightings of you by my agents.

I made a few calls and now I think I can answer some of your questions," Nick explained calmly. He was doing his very best not to intimidate this girl. He had plans and he could not scare her away.

"Like what?" she asked.

"I know why you are alive. I don't know all the facts though and I'm not even sure how it was possible. From how I understand it when you three fell that night your powers mixed. My contact explained it this way. You all were scared and it caused a reaction with your chi to create a net of sorts with magic. It caught you," he explained. "But, it only caught you and Margret if this theory is right." Nick had been in contact with Melindra, his contact in the Himalayas. She knew a lot about magic and how it worked. She explained everything, but even she said Ava had to be dead if she did not possess the same type of power source as Katherine and Margret.

"Go on Katherine," Sam said crossing his arms. "Tell Fury what you told us."

"First of all, you're right; at least I think you are, about how I lived. And second, Ava is alive."

Nick has been through everything. He is the spy. He is a legend. Nothing ever catches him off guard. That was until he heard those three words uttered.

"How?" he asked. "If I'm right about what happened, how could she have lived through a fall like that?"

"I can explain. But, first, we need to get Danny back here." Katherine reached into her bag and opened her laptop. "Can I hook this to your projector?" she asked.

Fury handed her a USB cord and she plugged it in. She clicked a few buttons. Then they were looking at quickly snapped pictures of Danny.

"These are the most recent I have. They're from this morning. From what I've gathered, he works through the night on the streets then stays in a hotel all day. After the incident with your three agents, he never stays in one place longer than a day at a time."

"How did you do this?" Nick asked.

"Skill," she answered with a smirk.

Everyone just laughed.

"So, this is where he is today?"

"Should be, unless he did something random and moved in the middle of the day. I'm pretty sure he's following this pattern though."

"So, Katherine, do you want to take this? See if you can talk him into coming back?" Fury asked. "But, the rest of the team will be coming with you for backup."

"I can try. Can I have a badge or something? When Sam tried to get into Daniel's office earlier his secretary wouldn't let him in."

"Yeah, I actually need to take you to the lawyer's office. There's some paperwork you need to sign."

"I'm sorry, but the peanut gallery over here is completely confused," Luke said.

"You didn't tell them?" Katherine asked Fury.

"Nope," he said to Katherine. To the boys he said, "I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of the Next Avengers, Black Sapphire. After Ava was supposedly killed, the council told me to get someone new in here to take her place. I found Katherine and asked her to come on. But, if we find Ava and she is alive, she can come back. There will just be six people rather than five on the team."

The three boys looked at each other then smiled at Katherine.

Peter stood and walked over to the girl. He threw an arm around her shoulders. "Welcome, and good luck, Black Sapphire."

* * *

Black Sapphire landed on the balcony of Danny's room at the hotel he was staying at that day. Spider Man was on the wall to the side of the glass door. Nova was floating next to him and Power Man was on the low rooftop right next to Danny's floor.

She could see Danny walking around in the small kitchen. His back was to her.

Black Sapphire stood there with her hands held behind her back waiting for him to turn around.

When he did, Danny nearly dropped the cup of coffee in his hand. He walked to the sliding glass door and opened it, letting the girl in.

"I swear, if this another stupid dream I might die." He said to her sitting down on the couch.

"Trust me, I'm real. I mean, if you have your doubts I can slap you," she answered.

"I'm good, thanks."

"That's what I thought."

"So, Katherine, what are you doing here and, more importantly, how are you alive?' he asked.

"For the second question, the same way Ava is alive. And for the first I want you to come back to S.H.I.E.L.D. with me," she answered.

"Oh, so now you work for S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Danny asked bitterly.

"You know, you've gotten really rude."

"Sorry," he said with a glare. "And what do you mean the same way Ava is alive?"

"You know what I mean. Ava lived through that. You've known that since the day of her memorial service. And, to save you the breath it will take you to ask, yes, I have been following you. Nice job with the agents that were chasing you. That was actually pretty funny."

They both laughed at the memory.

Slowly, they fell into silence.

Finally, Danny broke it with a question. "If you're a superhero now, what's your name?"

"Black Sapphire."

Danny thought for a moment. "I like it." He turned in his seat to look at Katherine sitting with one leg folded under her and the other hanging off the couch. Danny looked her up in down. "What are you wearing?" he asked with an exasperated tone.

"Just a few alterations to my costume. I've been wanting to do this since I got to New York. I couldn't stand K'un-Lun's rule of complete modesty. It got annoying after a while. I also got my ears and navel pierced just to defy Lei Kung."

"That's nice," he answered laughing. "You're gonna get cold."

"I have another costume, daddy."

"You're sarcasm has gotten a lot worse."

"Hey, New York changes a girl. You are official avoiding what I said about S.H.I.E.L.D. aren't you?"

"Just a little."

"So, will you come with me?"

"No."

Black Sapphire sat there for a minute, thinking. "You really get annoying, has anyone ever told you that?"

"I can't go back right now and you know that. I'm a traitor remember?"

"Fury sent me here to get you here so you can rejoin the team and we can all find Ava together. You need us and you know it. You aren't a traitor. We just need you to come back. There are some things that you need to know."

"I may need you all but I can't accept the help. This is my fault and I have to fix this."

"You're stubborn too," Katherine said.

"I learned it from you."

"Funny."

Danny abruptly stood. "I don't have time for this. Just tell me what you know."

"I can't do that. You have to come back with me."

"No! I have some sense of pride! I can't go back to S.H.I.E.L.D. and face my friends! I ran like a coward and now I can't take it back!" Danny yelled at Katherine.

Suddenly there was a dropping sound coming from the balcony and the rest of the team began to walk in through the open door with their hands up.

"We don't blame you," Spider Man said. "You had to face everyone giving you pity when you really didn't want it. Anyone would've left. But, if you believed Ava was alive, you should have told us."

Danny looked at the ground. "I don't even know if she is anymore myself," he said.

"She is! Is no one listening to me?" Black Sapphire said waving her arms in the air.

"Danny, dude, just come with us," Luke said. "Fury needs you to come back and there is a lot you need to know."

"So, Daniel, what do you say?" Black Sapphire asked.

They all stood in silence, waiting for his answer.

Finally, he sighed and said, "I'm not going to find her on my own."


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N Good news! Well, first I'm updating. Happy New Year! We made it through 2012! I'm also half way through Erased. My new story. It has nothing at all to do with my current trilogy. Just a prompt I got from himegirl15. It'll be up soon enough. Also, I went through The Strongest of the Weak and realized that I have millions and millions of mistakes. So, I'm gonna go through it and fix literally everything. Nothing will be changed. It'll just be a better quality story. And one more thing. Every set of books that are sequels of prequels all have a name. What should mine be? For those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about I'm talking about like The Twilight Saga, The Caster Chronicles, or The Hunger Games Trilogy. Let me know please! R&R**

******************Disclaimer: I don't own Ultimate Spider Man. Only the characters Katherine and Margret.**

* * *

**CHAPTER8:**

"Do you not realize what could have happened?! Every single one of your friends outside that door could've been put on the streets! Next time you decide to pull a stunt like that I'll make sure you never see the inside of this helicarrier again!"

The team had just gotten back to the helicarrier, Danny included. Nick was angry to put it lightly. He was yelling at Danny right now while everyone else stood in the hall. Not that the closed door was helping much.

"Yes, sir," they heard Danny say.

Tentatively, Luke walked in front of the sliding door and walked inside the conference room. Both Iron Fist and Nick sat at the table. The other four members followed.

"But, Danny," Nick said.

"Yes sir?"

"I'm glad you're back."

Everything about the Next Avengers had been explained to him and now he really regretted leaving. If he could go back and change his mind he would, but he cannot.

"So, Katherine," Fury said to the girl, "would you like to explain."

"Uh, yeah." Katherine stood and started to talk.

"You all know the theory about how I survived that fall. I genuinely believe it. I also know that both Ava and Margret are alive. I don't know where they are though. I've been in contact with Ava.

"I haven't seen her. It was a mental thing. This might be a bit hard to swallow, but I did something to her. Nothing bad, but I wasn't supposed to do it.

"I connected my mind with Ava's in a way. I split my powers. That means I'm not as strong as I used to be. Ava has half my powers.

"I gave them to her. I had every intention for her to throw Margret and me off the statue, but I expected her to catch herself in time. I distracted Margret and Ava was going to make sure we both died. That's what I meant when I asked her to kill me. Then the magic net caught us all. It worked on Ava because she essentially had her own chi.

"As time goes on I'll become stronger and she will too. The change shouldn't be affected by the Jade Tiger Amulets either. I've used them before and nothing changed for me. I don't know why they worked for Margret."

"Where are the amulets?" Sam asked.

"Ava has them. Margret does, I mean. When I woke up and started to try to communicate with Ava everything was a jumbled mess. She didn't realize what I had done at first. Now she does. I have access to her thoughts and she has access to mine. We're learning how to block certain things though. It won't be like this forever."

Danny was overjoyed to hear the news. Ava was okay. She was alive. Katherine can essentially talk to her. Hope was returning. He really might see her again.

"She's far away," Katherine said. "At first she wasn't and I could hear pretty much everything. Now, I can't."

"How far?" Danny asked.

"That's the weird thing. I have no idea. It's just fuzzy.

"I have something though. At first, she was scared and confused and I told her about her new powers and what she can do now. Last I heard she was fine. I learned a lot about her," Katherine explained.

"Like what?" Sam asked. The thought that Ava was alive was reassuring that everything could be all right again.

"Ava's a writer. She kept a journal. She always admired the authors she has read. She wishes she could be like them.

"The last thing I got from her was strange. Ava knew it would be the last time we talked for a while. It was a poem. It means something, something she needed to tell me but didn't have enough time to say."

"Do you remember it?" Danny asked.

"Uh, yeah," Katherine said. She pulled a piece of paper out of a file in her bag and read off the text in her curly handwriting.

"_She lies in wait for the day you shall come._

_Alone in a crowded place of thousands,_

_Seen,_

_But never discovered._

_The transformation of amethyst has begun._

_She lies in wait for the day you shall come._

_Silently screaming,_

_In the land where they never die._

"I've been trying to figure it out for days. So far, I've gathered that it's written in third person. Ava wrote this about herself. She being Ava. I think you is Daniel. The first part could mean she believes she will be found. Hence, she is waiting.

"I think the next part is about a small city, it only has thousands of people but she doesn't say how many 'thousands' is. 'Seen, But never discovered.' is probably a metaphor for something. I'm not sure.

"Then there's the 'transformation of amethyst'. I think Margret is trying to control her. When she was taking control of me I felt different. It's something you can sense.

"She goes on to say 'she lies in wait for the day you shall come.' Again, reiterating she's waiting and still has hope through it all. 'Silently screaming' doesn't make any sense to me. But, the most confusing part is 'In the land where they never die.' It could be a clue to where they are. Are there any cities or places in New York that could maybe reflect this?"

Fury thought for a moment then answered. "Not that I know of."

"Gosh!" Katherine yelled out in frustration. She threw down the piece of paper in her hand against the table using her super speed. The entire table shook at the impact. Katherine pulled her hand away and held back the tears and cries of pain from her most likely broken bone.

Danny walked over to the girl that had been most of his family for years and took her hand in his, healing it.

"You need to calm down," he said. "You always end up getting hurt when you get aggravated. My first example being that you just broke a bone trying to figure out what a poem means. Take a deep breath."

Katherine pulled her hand away from Danny's grasp and flexed her fingers. "Thank you. And I know. But this has to mean something and I'm not gonna give up until I figure out what."

"Right now, you all just take it easy," Nick said. "It's getting late and you all need the rest. Katherine, if you'll come with me, I'll show you where your room is. We can give you something to wear for the night and you can move your things here in the morning."

"Alright. Thank you director Fury."

The group of six walked to the area for the team where their rooms were.

There had always been six rooms surrounding the area. The sixth had always been used for storage. It has been cleared out now and has basic things like a bed, a side table, a dresser, a bookshelf, and an alarm clock. The closet was open and completely empty.

Katherine walked in and set her bag down on the bed. It had only a white fitted sheet and a matching bed sheet. It was a full with two pillows. Both pillow cases were white. The walls were not metal like the rest of the helicarrier. They had drywall and plaster on them, to look more like a bedroom.

"Like I said," Fury started seeing the girl's blank expression, "You can do what you want to it tomorrow. We can paint it whatever color you want. Everyone else did. This is where you'll live until you turn eighteen. After then you have the choice of either staying or moving into your own place in the city. Goodnight." Then the man was gone, leaving the team in the doorway of the blank room.

Katherine walked out of the room, pushing past the boys in her way. She stood back ad scanned the semi-circle of rooms.

Peter closed the door to Katherine's room and the four teens moved out of her way.

Each door had a small plaque with a name on it.

_Malince_

_Parker_

_Alexander_

_Cage_

_Rand_

Her eyes stopped on the first door, right before Danny's.

_Ayala_

Katherine squeezed her eyes shut tight. She stood there for a moment. Then, she opened her eyes and walked to her room. She closed the door behind her, leaving everyone else outside.

"This is all my fault," she thought. "Ava should be out there with them. She shouldn't be missing, at the mercy of my mother. She doesn't deserve this."

Katherine put her head in her hands and began to cry.

"All my fault," she whispered.


	10. Chapter 9

******************A/N First of all, I've noticed that when I upload more than one chapter at a time the last one I post gets the most views. Please make sure you read all the chapters so you understand my story. Also, I have nothing against One Direction. I honestly love them. I only added this into the story for comedic relief. You'll understand what this means later. And I hope this answers Wereguardian's question if Katherine being on the team is good or bad. R&R!**

******************Disclaimer: I don't own Ultimate Spider Man. Only the characters Katherine and Margret.** The Hunger Games belong to Suzanne Collins, Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer, and I do not in any way shape or form own One Direction, Justin Bieber, or Taylor Swift. 

* * *

**CHAPTER9:**

Katherine could not sleep that night. It was impossible. She laid awake in the dark, unfamiliar room. She looked over at her alarm clock on the side table. 1:43a.m.

She kept hearing the words to that one poem. Ava was talented. The words sent a chill down Katherine's spine every time she thought them.

'In the land where they never die."

It was familiar and it was meant to mean something to Katherine but what was a mystery.

Slowly, so as not to make any noise, she got up out of bed and walked out of her room.

The lights were dim outside her room, not completely off. Katherine crept across the floor to the room with the name _Ayala _on the door.

She turned the knob and pushed so she was inside Ava's room.

It looked exactly as Katherine's did. Everything was completely bare and void of anything unique. The only difference was the wall color. Rather than white, they were light pink.

Katherine took a tentative step forward and continued toward the back wall. She ran her hand across small holes that were placed in random spots. They were on all the walls.

"Posters," a voice said behind her.

Katherine turned on her heel faster than humanly possible and pulled a knife from a holder on her left arm.

"Calm down. Man, do you sleep with those things?"

"No, I do not, thank you very much. I grabbed it before I left my room. Shh, Daniel's asleep right next door. What do you want Peter?"

"Nothing, I heard you get up, thought I'd keep you company, if you want," the boy answered.

He was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed across his chest. He was in a white undershirt and red boxers.

"If you don't mind," she said, "I actually need someone to talk to. Get some things figured out, questions answered."

"Then I'm your man. I haven't been here long, but, I learned fast." Peter pushed off from the door and sat down on the barren bed.

Katherine followed his actions and sat down next to him. "Classy attire, by the way," she said.

He just shrugged and smiled. "You're part of the team now. Trust me, this won't be the last time you see me or any of the other guys like this. Modesty is definitely not a priority when there's a madman trying to take down the city. No offense about your mom or anything."

Katherine laughed. "None taken," she said with a smile. "And she's not my mom. She's my mother. Your mom is who raises you. Your mother is the one who gave birth to you. Same thing with a dad and a father. Your dad is who raised you. Your father is who you got half your genetic code from. In my case, Lei Kung, my master, would be both my mom and dad. One in the same."

They both started laughing. Peter knew all about the rough yet loving Lei Kung from Danny.

"I guess you could say my aunt May is my mom and my uncle Ben was my dad. My father was a scientist who wanted to prove cross-genetics was possible. Him and my mother dropped me off with aunt May and uncle Ben one night to do something for his work and never came back. I was young. My aunt and uncle raised me from then on."

"I thought you lived with your aunt May. Why are you here tonight?"

"She's out for the weekend again. Aunt May loves the outdoors and does a lot during the fall before it's too cold. I never actually had a room here until I started staying here more often a few months ago, when everything started happening with you and Margret. Fury wanted me to move in because he needed me on call with Danny being injured at the time, but I couldn't leave aunt May. She doesn't know I'm Spider Man."

"How did you get your powers?" she asked.

"From Oscorp. It was cross-genetics on accident. I was bitten by a spider that had been experimented on and my powers began to show later that day. It was exactly what my father had wanted to prove for years. That two species could be crossed to create something new. I'm the only one that actually ever worked. None of the scientists know that though.

"My uncle Ben was shot in a drug store burglary. I was angry at him and ran out of the house right before. He came to find me. I didn't stop the robber but he did," Peter explained sadly.

"I'm sorry," Katherine responded.

"It's fine."

"What were you saying about posters earlier?" she asked.

"Those holes in the wall are from tacks. Ava had hung posters all over the place. She may not seem like it, but Ava is the girly type. There were posters for each of the Twilight movies. A couple for Bieber, Taylor Swift, The Hunger Games. Her obsession was with One Direction though. After we were done taking them all down I decided that if I ever see Harry, Liam, Niall, Zane, or Louis again I would web all five of them to Big Ben and never let them down."

Katherine started laughing hard, holding her stomach.

"I love all of those things! Especially One Direction. I'm in love Niall," she said.

Peter sat there deep in thought for a few moments. "You are really gonna get along with Ava well. You're a lot like her."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I don't know you too good, but I can tell you're hard working, determined, smart, and kind."

"What is she like? What is she into?"

"How about this," Peter said to Katherine. "We both go change into civilian clothes then go to an all night diner I know about and talk."

"Sounds like fun. How do we get to the city in civilian clothes if we have to jump out of an invisible helicarrier?"

"Where your mask. Besides, we can land in an alley, so no one sees us."

"Aright, just give me a couple of minutes."

Katherine and Peter walked out of Ava's room. Peter turned the knob before he pulled it shut so there would not a clicking noise. They both walked to their rooms to change then leave.

Peter opened his closet to realize he forgot his bag of clothes at home. All that was there was a few pieces of clothing with the S.H.I.E.L.D. emblem on them. He could not wear that out in public as Peter Parker. He grabbed his only pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. He would have to stop at home before they went to the diner.

Katherine had a similar problem. She had none of her own clothes. She grabbed a baggy t-shirt out of the closet and sweatpants. She looked in the mirror. "This will not do," she thought.

The two walked out of their adjacent rooms at the same time and just laughed.

"I think I want to go by my hotel room first if you don't mind," Katherine said.

Peter grabbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I'd like to run home if you don't care."

"We have all night."

The pair put on their masks and walked out into the empty halls of the helicarrier.

* * *

Danny heard everything. He smiled at the metal ceiling in his room.

He heard the tone in Katherine's voice. He recognized it. Danny had heard the exact same one directed at him millions of times before.


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N This is just a short snippet between Katherine and Peter. It's kind of long. Not very descriptive but it should clear up any confusion about Katherine's motivations. It is also delightfully awkward at certain parts. :) Erased will be up tonight. I'm done with it but I think I will be trashing most of it. Let me know what you think of this. R&R!**

**************Disclaimer: I don't own Ultimate Spider Man. Only the characters Katherine and Margret.**

* * *

**CHAPTER10:**

They stopped at Peter's house first. Katherine sat in the living room to wait for him.

He picked out different jeans that hung lower on his hips and a dark blue shirt.

As he walked down the stairs, Peter saw Katherine sitting by the bookshelf looking through a photo album. It was one from when he was younger. He just smiled at the look on her face.

"You had glasses. Do you have contacts now?" she asked.

"Uh, no. After that spider bit me I just didn't need glasses anymore," he explained.

Katherine looked up at Peter and saw the uncharacteristic clothes he had decided to wear. She blushed a bit and looked back down at the book. "Not the only thing that changed," she said. Her walked behind her and saw she was touching a picture of him right before he got his powers. He was a scrawny nerd with big glasses.

Peter blushed too. "Yeah."

"So, now to my hotel. I haven't gotten an apartment yet. I didn't know how long I would be staying," she said, putting the book back where she found it. "Guess this will be a bit more long term than I had anticipated."

"Come on, let's go."

* * *

New York was busy even at night. The pair made their way through the streets laughing. They had an easy humor between them.

There were nightclubs everywhere. Women walking around in too-short dresses. Guys in jeans. Katherine had an idea.

Finally, they made in through the madness to the hotel where Katherine was staying.

She walked into her room while Peter waited for her in the small sitting area. She came back out and his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

She was wearing black skinny jeans and a tight, red top. Her heals were also a matching shade of red. She had her hair up but some strands still made their way into her blue eyes. Katherine had found time to throw on makeup to match her outfit and accent her eyes.

She began to talk to bring Peter out of his daze. "I live in New York now. I'm 17 years old. I want to have some fun. It's nearly 2:30 in the morning. We have all night. I want to go to a club."

The boy smiled deviously. This was more his speed. Sure, Peter Parker was a good kid, but even the best need to have a little fun. He was going to take Katherine to a diner because he did not think she would be up to going to a club. He was horribly wrong.

"I don't want to do anything illegal. I want to go to one for people under 21. I want to have fun, not get arrested for getting caught with a cruddy fake I.D.," she explained.

"Agreed."

* * *

"Let's agree right now that Fury doesn't find out about this," Peter said as they walked up to the red rope. Next to the door was a sign that said _'Club Remix: Ages: 16-21"_

"Of course we aren't going to tell Fury. He'd kill us."

The security guard was huge. Katherine was not intimidated though.

"The club's full. No one else is aloud in," he said to the two teens.

Katherine pulled two cards out of her pocket and showed them to the guard. He took them out of her hands and read over them.

"Okay." The guard was satisfied and lifted the rope. "Have fun Ms. Malince."

"What did you show him?" Peter asked

Katherine handed him the same cards.

_**Rand Corp.**_

_**Daniel Rand (CEO) – Katherine Malince (CEO)**_

The second was her driver's license.

"Most people don't tell you 'no' when your name is next to Rand. Same principle as Stark or Osborne," she explained.

"Good point."

The music in the club was loud. People everywhere were dancing and laughing and talking. Brightly colored lights were going everywhere and shining bright.

"This will be fun," Katherine whispered in Peter's ear.

He just smiled brighter than ever.

* * *

They had been dancing for hours. When Peter finally looked down at his watch, he was shocked. It was 4:03a.m.

He looked at the girl dancing with him and grabbed her hand to pull her closer.

"We should go," he said, in Katherine's ear.

"Yeah, we should," she answered, looking down at her own watch.

The two made their way through the crowd and walked out into the cool New York streets.

"We've been out all night," Peter pointed out as they walked.

"Time flies when you're having fun."

Peter looked into Katherine's eyes and just stared. She saw him looking at her and blushed.

He grabbed her hand suddenly and said, "Come on, there's something I want to show you."

He led her down an alley and stopped when he had found what he was looking for.

"Put on your mask," Peter ordered, doing the same.

Katherine immediately did what he said.

Peter walked around her and stopped directly behind her. She felt his strong arm circle her waist. "Keep your eyes closed," he ordered in her ear.

Katherine obeyed.

She heard the familiar _thwip _of Peter's web shooters and felt her feet being lifted off the ground.

The two were soaring through the skies. Katherine kept her eyes closed the entire time.

When her feet hit solid ground, Katherine stayed completely still. Peter wrapped his hands around her waist and held on.

"Okay, open them."

When she did, Katherine was awestruck. She was looking at the busy streets of New York. She was leaning forward on the edge of a tall building. The only thing keeping her from falling was Peter's hands wrapped tightly around her waist.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"Technically, Times Square. Just above it. Sit down. We can talk here," he explained, pulling Katherine so she was standing straighter. Her back was flush against his chest as Peter lifted her small form again and set her down on the rooftop.

The two sat on the edge of the building they were standing on. Even sitting, he towered over her. He flipped his mask just above his nose as they sat and talked.

"What did you want to ask me?" Peter asked.

"'What is Ava like?' was my original question. However, I just can't get over how beautiful this is."

"Well, she's hardworking and smart. Ava never gives up on anything and there isn't anything she can't do. And if there is even a remote chance she can't do it, she'll try to anyway. So, a lot like you. Now my turn. What's your favorite candy?"

Katherine started laughing. "I'm asking important questions about the girl I will be working with for a potentially very long time and you want to know what my favorite candy is. I like Nerds. You?"

"Butterfingers. What's your favorite color?"

"Baby blue? What's your favorite color?"

"Red. What does it feel like to run as fast as you?"

"Exhilarating. No one can touch me. I am the fastest thing on the planet in that exact moment. What does it feel like to stick to a wall?"

"Nothing special really. Unless I'm upside down. Then all the blood rushes to my head. What is your idea of a perfect first date?"

"Something a lot like this. I go out for a night on the city with a friend. We spend time together, getting to know each other into the early morning. Except, in my vision, I get a good night kiss. This is a bit awkward, but I have to know, after you were bitten by the spider, did you have to work for the muscles, or did they magically appear too?" she asked jokingly. Katherine was not the reserved type.

Peter and Katherine both burst out laughing like little kids. They fell onto their backs, holding their stomachs, until they rolls of laughter subsided.

"I'm not even going to answer that," Peter said. They both turned to look at each other. "What was it like growing up in K'un-Lun?"

"Different. I was lucky I had an education and training. Most girls from there can't say that. It is illegal to train women in combat. They are expected to get married, have children, work in the house or fields. I was special because of my powers. I was raised as a boy would be just slightly different.

"There were rules for what a proper lady is. One for modesty. I could not show a lot of skin ever. Knees down, arms, neck, and face were what I could show. And nothing too tight. The only reason I got by with my costume was that it was black so nothing would show too much..

"Another was for occupation. There are only certain jobs women can hold. I never had to work though. Only train. I never trained with the classes. Only Daniel. He was allowed to be with the other boys though.

"I have not had my first kiss. I mean one time, I was lightly kissed, but that didn't count. I was 13 and it barely lasted a second.

"The last thing that concerned me was an unspoken law that no woman was allowed to join the Immortal Council. It was never written down because they never thought there would be an instance where a woman would have enough training to even attempt the challenges. I was the first one who qualified. I left a year before I was going to complete the challenges. I don't regret leaving though. Too many bad memories."

"You haven't had your first kiss?" Peter asked.

"Is that seriously the only thing you heard me just say?"

"No. It just caught my attention. I just assumed everything was pretty much the same as it is here. And, I thought you would've broken that rule. You dated Danny for four years."

"You know what they say about assuming. And everything with Daniel is ancient history now. I prefer not to talk about it."

"I understand. That would be kinda awkward. I didn't know you were going to join the Immortal Council."

"Yeah, I wanted to prove I could."

"It would cool I bet. To be one of the immortals in the City of Immortals. That's what they call K'un-Lun, right?"

"Yeah."

The two sat in comfortable silence looking up at the early morning sky. The sun was barely peeking over the horizon, not yet visible to the population of New York.

Katherine suddenly shot up into a sitting position and gasped loudly.

Peter followed he movements slowly, confused.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"City of Immortals."

"What about it?"

"Think about it Peter!" she said excited. "The City of Immortals. 'In the land where they never die.' Land is a place. Like a city. A person who never dies is immortal. It's Ava's poem. I get it."

"Wait, are you saying…" Peter trailed off. He just could not believe it.

"Yes. Ava is in K'un-Lun."


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N A quick update! I had this written but I just edited it. I wasn't sure about this chapter. It's kind of a filler like everything between Katherine and Peter was but it turned out decent. The first part is just setting everything up for the end. The ending is the good part. And I want to say I am probably wrong about what grade they are all in. But, I already have the epilogue written and a plot ready for the last story in the trilogy. If they were a different age, then everything would be completely screwed up for me, so just go with it. Also, at one point I said Ava was 17. The way I had that written implied she would turn 18 within the year and I made her the youngest. So, for the intentions of this story line, they are Seniors in high school. And the part about Raleigh is made up. Awilda really is the sister's name in the comic books but the brother-in-law was unnamed on the Marvel Wikia so I named him. If you know his real name please, please, please, please, let me know. He will be a big part in the next story. R&R!**

******************Disclaimer: I don't own Ultimate Spider-Man. Only the characters Katherine and Margret.**

* * *

**CHAPTER11:**

"How is that even possible?" Peter asked as the two stood to leave.

"I don't know how she pulled it off, but Margret did. I know why the connection was so jumbled. It's too hard to try to communicate through dimensions. K'un-Lun is a completely different plain of existence. A lot like Asgard."

"How do we get in and how do we find K'un-Lun? Danny's parents died trying."

"It's easy. I know the way. The only reason Wendell Rand couldn't find it was because he hadn't been there in years. We need to get there as soon as possible. I think Margret's trying to use Ava for the reasons she was using me."

"Are you that sure she knows about what you did?"

"Positive. Margret is sadistic, not stupid. We have to go."

"Kat," Peter said.

"Yeah?"

He walked up to her and did exactly what he had been dying to all night.

Peter kissed Katherine.

She immediately kissed him back. It was the first time she had ever had this kind of connection with someone. And she liked it, invited it even.

Peter was the first the pull back. Both his hand rested on her.

"Now you can say you've had the experience," he whispered.

"The perfect end to the perfect first date," she smiled.

* * *

Five superheroes were all in a conference room in the early morning. They all had some type of caffeine in front of them. Everyone was tired, waiting for the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. to come with news. Katherine and Peter had told everyone their discovery.

Each teammate was doing something.

Power Man sat at the table while talking in a hushed voice with Nova.

Black Sapphire sat on the table with her legs crossed writing on official-looking papers and signing documents. Spider-Man sat with her, read the documents over her shoulder and asking simple questions.

Iron Fist sat on the floor, meditating. Or at least trying. His mind continued to wander to his girlfriend.

"I'm really going to see her again," he thought. "This never seemed real. I just cannot believe everything is going to be okay."

The door suddenly opened and everyone in the room jumped slightly. In walked Nick Fury.

Iron Fist stood and walked to the table. Everyone found a seat to sit in and waited for orders.

"I can't afford to send out a S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft," the man said. "The council would find out if I sent agents in this division to another sector. S.H.I.E.L.D. has more than one base and division. This is just the main one. I would get caught if I sent an unchartered aircraft to the Himalayan sector of the world."

Everyone looked down at the table in sadness. If they cannot leave New York, they will never get Ava back.

"But," he said, "there is one more thing we can do. I haven't talked to him yet, but I can see if Tony Stark will let me charter a flight to the Himalayas with one of his jets. I don't know if he'll let me though because I can't tell him why I need a jet and I can't guarantee it will came back unscathed."

Black Sapphire looked at Iron Fist. They both had the same idea.

"For that matter, we can use mine," Iron Fist spoke up.

"Your what?" Sam asked.

"Private jet, of course," Black Sapphire clarified.

"I personally don't care what happens to it. It was my parents' and I just never got rid of it," the hero explained.

"I'll get the paperwork done," Fury said. "Can you fly it, Iron Fist? I don't want a civilian pilot on this op."

"Yes."

"Go pack your bags. Your five are going to K'un-Lun."

* * *

"Look me in the eyes Ava," the woman whispered.

"No."

"Do not disobey me," she said, grabbing the girl's chin. "I said look at me."

The two made eye contact.

"Very good. Now, tell me about yourself. Who raised you?"

Ava could not help but answer Margret's questions. She felt compelled, controlled even.

"My sister, Awilda del Toro and my brother-in-law, Raleigh del Toro."

"How old are you?"

"17."

"What grade are you in?" Margret asked.

"12th. I'm a senior in high school.

"What school do you go to?"

"Midtown High," Ava answered.

"What is your alias as a hero?"

"White Tiger."

"Who do you work for?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D."

"What does that acronym mean?"

"Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division."

"Who was your predecessor?"

"My niece, Angela del Toro."

"Who was her predecessor?

"My brother, Hector Ayala."

"Good, Ava. We are getting better at this. Now, for some new questions."

This was a daily routine for the two. Margret would ask questions to get into Ava's mind. Ava had to answer. Margret had taken root in her mind already.

"Where did you live?"

"On the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier."

"City, state, and country too."

"New York City, New York, the United Stated of America."

"Where are you from?"

"San Juan, Puerto Rico."

"What is your native language?"

"Both Spanish and English. Primarily Spanish."

"Are you in a relationship?"

Ava pressed her lips together. She could still resist Margret if she tried. That was most certainly not subject she wanted to discuss with her captor.

"Ava, are you in a relationship?"

The girl gritted her teeth to keep from answering.

"Answer me!" Margret screamed.

"No."

Margret drew back her arm and slapped Ava across the face.

"You will answer me!"

"No, I will not!"

Ava bit down hard on her lip. She broke the skin and tasted the copper flavor of her blood.

Margret leaned over the girl who was tied in a chair in the small basement room. Her wrists were tied down on the arms. There was crusted blood on the rope and cuts on her arms from where Ava tried to escape her bonds many times before. Her ankles looked similar.

The woman pushed down on Ava's wrists, causing the hero to scream out in pain.

"Ava, are you in a relationship?" she asked again in a deadly calm voice.

"Yes."

"Is it serious?"

"Yes."

"Are you in love with him?"

Ava bit down on her lip again but the word still slipped out of her mouth.

"Yes."

"What is his name?"

There was only silence meeting the question.

Margret pushed down harder on Ava's injured wrists.

"AHH!" Ava screamed out in pain again. Finally, the pain was too much. "Danny! Danny Rand!"

Margret released her and walked to the door. "You're doing better every day, Ava. I'm very proud of you. And, don't worry. You'll forget all about Daniel soon enough. You won't have to deal with the pain of his abandonment for much longer." Then she was gone.

Ava squeezed her eyes shut, fighting back tears. "He hasn't abandoned me," she thought. "He can't."

She found the will to open her eyes again. When she did, only one was still brown. The other was purple.

"Please, Danny," she whispered. "Please, save me."


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N So, my extra update for today. Just so y'all know the end is coming. This story ended up much shorter than I had anticipated. The next one will be longer though. I have the epilogue written. I have had it done since chapter 1. I'm excited for the next one. I'm a 'hopeless romantic' as my best friend loves to call me. Enough said. I have been fluff deprived and plan on taking it out on The Beginning of the End. I'm writing some super sweet stuff right now. It's like flying on a cloud. I hope it's good. You'll find out if it is in the next story. I've ben listening to Eminem while writing it. -_- R&R!**

**********************Disclaimer: I don't own Ultimate Spider-Man. Only the characters Katherine and Margret.**

* * *

**CHAPTER12:**

Everyone was relaxing as the plane soared through the sky. They needed all the energy they could get. No one knew what the team was going to be facing in the next few hours.

They had been flying for nearly twelve hours. Just one more to go.

Sam had fallen asleep around the ten-hour mark. Luke was playing a game on his phone. Peter was watching a movie. Katherine was leaning on him and reading a post-apocalyptic romance novel. Danny was lost in thought. He had been that way for most of the trip. No one blamed him. There was the fact that he was about to see his girlfriend again after thinking she was dead. He was also returning to the place he was raised. Danny was born in New York, but K'un-Lun will always be his home.

He was going to see Lei Kung again. And everyone else he had become close to. He wondered how his master would react to seeing Katherine.

He just hoped everything would go smoothly.

Katherine suddenly got up from her seat and folded the page down on her book. Peter turned to her to see what she was doing. She just waved him off.

The teen walked over to where Danny was sitting at a table with two seats. She sat down across from him.

She looked around the room to see no one was listening. Luke and Peter both had earphones in and Sam was asleep. And once Sam falls asleep not even a bomb can wake him.

"What's wrong?" Katherine asked Danny.

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"I know you better than that. You were my only friend for nine years. I can tell when you're worried about something."

"We're going back to K'un-Lun," Danny said. "I never imagined I would willingly go back there. When I walked through that machine to that village nearly a year ago, I didn't think I would ever walk that path again."

"It's going to be strange. I just hope everything goes okay," Katherine admitted. "Lei Kung knows what happened. Did you ever tell him why?"

"No. I never got the chance. I'll talk to him though. I guess I have to now."

"There's a part of me that is glad we're going back. I miss my home. I was born and raised in K'un-Lun."

"I don't think Lei Kung will be angry to see you. He can't hate you on principle. He raised you since you were four weeks old, Katherine. You are essentially his daughter. No matter how badly you screw up, he will still love you. I'm a whole other story though. My parents raised me until I was seven. Lei Kung trained me from there on."

"He raised you for nine years. And you left on good terms," Katherine said. Danny rested his chin on his crossed arms as she talked. "Lei Kung raised you through the awkward parts of your life. Trust me, Danny, he'll be glad to see you."

The boy's head shot up instantly at his name. "What did you just call me?"

Katherine sat there shocked for a moment before answering. "I think I just called you Danny."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I have never once called you that in the nine years we have known each other. I've never even thought about it."

"What happened then?"

"How close are we to K'un-Lun? When I'm at close range with Ava our thoughts get mixed. I just don't realize it. Her thoughts are hard to distinguish from my own most of the time."

"We should be there within the hour. You must have one serious headache."

"Yeah, if I had known how difficult this was, I might've thought about it more. You know, I never apologized to you."

"You don't need to. None of this is your fault."

"Yes it is. This all goes much farther than just recent months. I'm apologizing for everything. Back when we first captured Margret and I didn't listen to you. That's how this all began. I made the mistake to talk to her, let her get to me. Do you know how she finally broke me?"

"How?"

"She used you. Asked me about you. Some of my deepest, inner thoughts involved you. I think she's going to do the same thing to Ava. We cannot let that happen. I want to mend my loose ends right now though.

"I'm sorry for everything. And, I want to thank you," Katherine said.

"For what?" Danny asked.

"Not killing me when I asked you to. I'm grateful that I lived. I think it was God's way of saying it wasn't my time. That me dying at that moment in time wasn't the plan." She looked over at a very distracted Peter. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Has my answer to that ever stopped you before?"

Katherine laughed. "No. Do you love Ava?"

"More than anything."

"I just think you should know she loves you more than you will ever know. I've heard her thoughts. You are her life."

"And she is mine. I didn't know her for most of my life but now I can't imagine life without her in it."

They fell into a heavy silence. One filled with words that needed to be said.

"Do you remember what you said to me before I left K'un-Lun?" Katherine asked.

"I'll never forget. 'I love you.' sticks out."

"Yeah. I never got to respond. I just thought you should know. I love you. Not in that way. I don't think we ever loved each other like that. I mean like a brother. You were the only person I had during my childhood."

"I love you too. Not like I love Ava. But you will forever be my sister. "

"I've seen some of Ava's most inner thoughts and dreams and… Never mind."

"What were you going to say?"

"How long have you and Ava been together?"

"Coming up on two months."

"It's probably a bit too early for me to be saying this but I think you should talk to Lei Kung during this trip. About Ava I mean."

Danny looked down at his hands and blushed a bit. "What did you hear in her mind that makes you say that?"


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N You all are amazing. We finally figured out that I had a severe sprain in my left wrist. It was from the five years of playing clarinet. This year we started playing harder music. Also, I have begun learning sign language. Because of the two very difficult things my wrist got pretty messed up. Now, it still is really painful at times and hits me randomly but my updates are gonna start back up. There will probably still be times when I have to take breaks. I'm gonna have to live with it. I want to thank you all for your support. I hope you enjoy! Oh yeah, I want to clear something up. I hate Disney Channel. I just want to make sure everyone knows that I got all my information from the original stories at the Marvel Data Base and Wikia. My White Tiger info really is right. Trust me. I have spent hours on researching this. R&R!**

******************Disclaimer: I don't own Ultimate Spider Man. Only the characters Katherine and Margret.**

* * *

**CHAPTER13:**

They had been flying for thirteen hours and just landed the plane near the village where the Randall Machine was located.

The man who possessed the Iron Fist before Danny was named Orson Randall. He was a very wealthy and intelligent man. He created a machine that would allow people from K'un-Lun to cross to the earth and people from the earth to cross into K'un-Lun. There was one in each of the Seven Cities of Heaven. It was called the Randall Machine. It was only used for very specific reasons. Danny had permission to use it as needed.

The five superheroes climbed off the jet and walked to the village. They were all in their costumes and had their masks on. They all had on winter gear on top of their costumes. Danny had his jacket unzipped and the dragon on his chest was noticeable.

He was in the front of the group, leading the way. There were women walking around with baskets and children alike on their hips. There were a few market stalls here and there and shops. Everyone stopped when they saw Iron Fist walking through. He heard their whispers.

"Is that the Iron Fist?" one woman said in a hushed whisper.

"Daniel Rand-K'ai?" another whispered.

"Why do they know your name here? An why are they speaking English?" Nova asked.

"Some of these people are from K'un-Lun. Others just know the legends are true," Danny explained. "Also, some are using the language of K'un-Lun. English is common here though."

An elderly woman walked out of her home with a basket clothes. She saw Danny and his friends walking down the street and set her basket on the ground. She walked over to the teenagers and stood right in front of Danny.

She put her hands on her hips and spoke in perfect English.

"Daniel Rand. Well, would you look at that? I thought you weren't coming back," she said.

Danny towered over her small form. "It's good to see you too, Melindra."

"Give me a hug."

Danny hugged the woman like she was his grandmother. "What are you doing here Daniel?" she asked.

"Margret has my girlfriend. I intend to bring her back," he whispered.

Melindra pulled back and looked up at him. "Girlfriend? Never mind that. We can talk later. Who're your friends?"

"This is the team director Fury put together. My new family," Danny said to the woman. To the team he said, "This is the woman who raised me, Melindra. She works for S.H.I.E.L.D. too."

"So, what are all of your names? Real and superhero if you don't mind." She said to the group.

"I'm Peter Parker ma'am. A.K.A. Spider-Man."

"My name is Luke Cage. A.K.A. Power Man."

"The name's Sam Alexander. I'm also Nova."

Danny made a point to stand in front of Katherine during to confrontation.

"Daniel, who is the lady behind you? That doesn't look like Ava's costume. I thought she wore white."

Danny stepped from in front of the girl. "Uh, Melindra, this is-"

The boy did not have time to finish his statement before Melindra interrupted him. "Katherine."

"Hello, grandmother," Black Sapphire responded.

The elderly woman walked up to the girl and said, "You best be grateful I have gotten old."

"Yes, ma'am."

The Melindra gave her a hug. "But just remember, Lei Kung doesn't get old. You best be afraid of him more than me. What happened?"

"Margret-" Katherine began.

"Enough said, dear," Melindra said, releasing the girl from the embrace.

Everyone on the team but Danny was shocked by the revelation.

"Gr-grandmother?" Peter asked.

"Yes, I am Margret's mother and Katherine's grandmother."

"Do you have powers too?" Peter asked, the color draining from his face in fear.

"No, Margret got those from her father may he rest in peace. Anyway, Daniel, where is Ava?" the woman asked.

"She is the girl Margret took."

"Oh dear. I hate to cut this short but you all best her back and soon. Lord only knows what sort of trouble Margret has caused this time. She has been that way since she was a child. Promise you'll be back though?" Melindra said.

"Of course," Danny and Katherine replied in unison.

They both gave her one last hug before they set off again. It was not a far walk to the cave they were looking for. They walked in and heard the noises of the old machine. As they walked deeper, it came into view.

"That looks like something straight out of SG1," Luke said.

"It says Rand on the side," Peter pointed out.

"The paint wore off," Danny explained.

"Aren't you related to Orson Randall?" Katherine asked.

"You know I am."

"True."

"Isn't that the last Iron Fist?" Peter asked.

"Yes."

"You're related to him?

"Not biologically," Danny explained. "My father was somewhat of his apprentice. Orson was pretty much my father's dad. They travelled for years together up until Orson died and my father met my mother and settled down in New York. 'Rand' is technically my last name, it's on my birth certificate, but it is not the name my father was born with. I don't exactly know what that is. 'Rand' is just the name my father took when Orson took him in. He didn't take Randall because Orson was wanted. So, he just took off the 'a-l-l'. It became 'Rand-K'ai' later on in K'un-Lun, and then Americanized back to 'Rand'. My fortune was Orson's too. He gave it all to my father in his will. It became mine when my parents died. They left everything to me."

"Wow."

"Yeah. My life in a nutshell," Danny said sarcastically.

"Are you all ready?" Katherine asked.

There was a silent sense of consent throughout the group.

"Okay, just let me handle everything past this gate. There will be guards waiting for us. They guard the gate from the inside," Danny said. "Katherine, stay in the back behind all of us. Pete, make sure they don't see her. If any of the guards see her she will be taken away. Katherine, be ready to run if anything happens."

Then, Danny tentatively took the last remaining steps between him and his home.


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N Another chapter! I'm finished with this story. I'm gonna try and put them all up tonigt. I hope the ending isn't too obvious. R&R!**

******************Disclaimer: I don't own Ultimate Spider Man. Only the characters Katherine and Margret.**

* * *

**CHAPTER14:**

Sure enough, just as Danny had expected, there were guards waiting for them on the other side of the gate. There were two of them. When they saw the symbol on Danny's chest they both bowed in respect. "Namaste, Iron Fist," they said in unison.

Danny's voice took on a strange accent as he began to speak in the native tongue of his home. "There is no reason to bow to me. I am but a peasant among many."

"We bow out of respect not obligation," one man responded with a similar accent.

"How may we assist you, Iron Fist?" the other asked.

"I wish to take my friends with me to speak to Master Lei Kung the Thunderer."

"Of course. You may pass. Welcome back, Iron Fist."

Danny thought they were in the clear. He looked back at his friends and signaled for them to follow him through the cave. Right before the group of five was out of the sights of the guards he sensed something was off.

Danny turned on his heel to see the guards walking towards Katherine. He quickly walked back to meet them.

"Is there an issue?" Danny asked.

One of them pointed to Katherine. "She is wanted by Yu-Ti himself. She must come with us. She isn't welcome here."

Danny sighed and grabbed Katherine's wrist. He started thinking quickly about how to get out of this without running.

He quickly whispered almost inaudibly to her, "Start speaking Spanish. Pretend to be Ava."

She got the message. _"I do not know what you are talking about. I have never been here in my life," _Katherine said in fluent Spanish.

"What is your name?" a guard asked.

_"Ava Ayala. Who do you think I am?"_

"We have orders to bring a girl, who looks suspiciously like you, to Yu-Ti if she is seen."

Danny was running out of ideas. He had to act fast or Katherine would be arrested, no questions asked.

He pulled her closer and put his arm around her waist. "Who do you think she is?" Danny asked.

"Katherine Malince. I'm sure you remember her."

"How could I forget?" Danny asked. "I spent the better part of my childhood with the girl. And then, a month tracking her down. Trust me, this is not her. I would know."

"Not that we do not trust you, Iron Fist, but we need more proof before we can let her walk away."

Danny sighed again. There was only one way to get out of this. He leaned in and kissed Katherine full on the lips. It was quick and chaste, but it was the first time Danny had ever kissed Katherine. She was stiff, taken aback by his actions.

When he pulled back, the guards were shocked. "I would never kiss the girl that betrayed me," Danny said, looking into Katherine's eyes. "This is my girlfriend, Ava Ayala."

"Alright. You may go," a guard told them.

Danny kept his arm firmly around Katherine's waist as they walked through the cave. He kept it there as they walked out to the outskirts of the city.

He leaned down and quickly whispered directions in the girl's ear. "Pretend like you totally adore me. I'll explain later."

They continued through the city like that. Their movements were natural from years of practice.

Finally, the team made it to the dojo without another confrontation. When they walked through the doors, they immediately saw a tall man dressed in green walking around. Danny released his hold on Katherine and walked towards the man.

Danny stopped in front of him and bowed. "Namaste, Master."

"Daniel. What are you doing here?"

"I believe we need to talk, Lei Kung."

The man looked over at the rest of the team. His eyes landed on Katherine.

"Yes, we do, Iron Fist."

* * *

They all sat in a sitting area in a heavy silence.

"What are you doing here, Daniel?" Lei Kung asked.

"It's a long story."

"We have time. Personally, I would like to know why you have Katherine with you."

"Master," the girl started, "We must explain. So, much has happened. Please, do not call me a traitor or criminal yet."

"Please, start."

"I was being controlled by Margret."

"Really?"

"Yes. And director Fury's team was trying to stop me. This is them minus one."

"Margret had a plan to use the Jade Tiger Amulets to gain control of the other six immortal weapons and using them to open the gates to the Eighth City," Danny explained. "She needed Katherine to get the amulets."

"And did she?"

"Yes. And she still has them."

"I was told that the amulets were safe," Lei Kung said. "How did Margret manage to obtain them if they were being protected?"

"She used me," Katherine said. "After I was under her control, Margret had me take them."

"From who?"

"Her name is Ava Ayala. She is the sixth member of this team. She is also the third White Tiger in the legacy."

"Now," Lei Kung said, "you have come here. Why?"

"We have reason to believe Margret is hiding somewhere in the city with Ava. I think she wants to use Ava to open the gates to the Eighth City. But, first, she needed a quiet place away from S.H.I.E.L.D. to take control of her mind," Danny said.

"Why would this girl be of any use to Margret if her abilities come from the Jade Tiger amulets?"

Katherine looked down at her hands and sat silently. Then, she opened her mouth to speak. "I split my chi and put half of it in Ava so we could take down Margret."

Lei Kung's face turned redder than a ripe apple. "You did what?" he asked.

"Please, do not be angry with me now. Right now, we just need to find Ava." Katherine pleaded.

The man took a deep breath and calmed himself. "Alright. For tonight, you all need to get some rest. We can search in the morning. Daniel, Katherine, I assume you know where your rooms are?"

"Yes."

"I'll show your friends to where they may stay. I will be by to talk to you both later."

Right before the team parted ways, Danny walked to Spider-Man and said, "Sorry about that earlier in the cave, Pete."

"You know?"

"Of course I do. You aren't exactly quiet at two in the morning."

* * *

Danny and Katherine sat on the bed in Danny's childhood room.

"That could've gone a lot worse," the girl said.

"I know," Danny said. "He has mellowed."

"Probably because for the first time in 17 years, he has had a break from taking care of kids. We were quite the handful if I remember right."

They both started laughing. They got into more trouble as children than they would care to admit.

"What happened today? Why did you do that?" Katherine asked. She was talking about the show he put on for the guards at the gate.

"After you left, there was a notice put out to turn you in. Here, you are a criminal. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. It didn't cross my mind until the last minute."

"It's fine. I should've guessed. But why the little show you put on to convince them I wasn't who they were looking for? That was quite… elaborate."

"I had to do something. You played the part well. I should apologize about kissing you though. I know you have a thing for Peter. I just didn't know what to do."

"The great Daniel Rand was winging it? I'm shocked," Katherine joked. "And it's fine. I know why you did it. Why did I have to speak Spanish?"

"I was afraid they would recognize your accent. You have a very distinct Kun-Lunian accent, even when you speak English. I was hoping Spanish would be different."

"That makes sense. How did you know about Peter?"

Danny laughed. "My room is right next to Ava's you know. And you two aren't exactly the quietest people on the planet. I said something to him. He asked the exact same question."

"Sorry. And leave him alone. I'm dating someone for a couple hours, who happens to be one of your best friends, and you still manage to make him uncomfortable."

He just laughed. "I'm glad you're happy."

"I really care about him. We went out all night. But, we ended up going to a club instead of the diner. He's… special. I don't know how to explain it."

"I know exactly what you mean."

"Thank you, Daniel."

Suddenly, the door to Danny's room slid open and Lei Kung walked in.

He immediately walked to the two teenagers. They both stood, ready to face his wrath.

He took them both by surprise when he hugged them like a father who had not seen his children in years.

"I have been alive for hundreds of years and I have seen many awful times but the last seven months have been the most boring I have ever lived through."

They all started laughing.

"Katherine, I'm not angry about what you did for Ava. I am worried. You could've killed yourself doing something like that."

"I didn't though."

"Not the point. I'm sorry about your friend. I'm going to do everything in my power to get her back."

Danny looked down at the ground and smiled. He could not wait to see Ava again.

"We need to start looking soon," Danny said.

Lei Kung looked at the boy who was like a son to him. "Is there anything else I should know?"

Danny blushed and looked away.

Katherine was the one to speak. "Daniel is… excited to see Ava again."

"Daniel?" Lei Kung said.

"There is a lot you should know."

So, they told the man everything. Every detail of the seven months they had been gone. When they were done, there were no more secrets.

"Well," Lei Kung said, "I think we all need to get some rest." He was speechless. Life outside K'un-Lun had changed both Danny and Katherine more than he realized it would.

"Goodnight."


	16. Chapter 15

******************Disclaimer: I don't own Ultimate Spider Man. Only the characters Katherine and Margret.**

* * *

**CHAPTER15:**

No one slept that night. The time difference was too much for all of them. All five heroes sat with their legs crossed at the low table in the dining area, wearing civilian clothes. It was like déjà vu for Danny and Katherine. They had sat in these same seats for most of their lives. They had gone through this same routine countless times.

Lei Kung sat with them. He had taken the time and gotten to know the rest of the team more. He had never seen much of the outside world. The way everyone in the team acted and talked was different. It was very modern.

K'un-Lun was a simple place, peaceful. Nothing like New York. Danny had missed its serenity.

"I have an idea as to where Margret may be hiding," Katherine said.

Everyone turned to her. "How?" Peter asked.

"I spent my night trying to get in contact with Ava. Well, Daniel and I were. We were trying to do something that allows us to dream walk together."

"We got nothing though," Danny pointed out in a voice that lacked emotion.

"After you went to bed, I tried to connect with Ava. She isn't too sure where she is either. It's always dark and there aren't any windows. She let me see what it looks like. I recognize it but I just can't place it. There are a few boxes scattered everywhere. The last detail is that every time Margret leaves, she goes through a door that leads to a set of stairs. That's all I know."

"It's good enough for now," Lei Kung reassured.

"Where should we look?" Sam asked.

Danny stood abruptly and said, "I have an idea. Just let me go check something first."

He walked out of the room and down the familiar hallways of his childhood home. When he came to the right room, he stopped and pushed the door open. It was a simple room with low bookshelves lining to walls. Danny walked to one and pulled out a few book. He took them and sat in the middle of the room.

He stared at the images and letters on the pages. He stayed like that for hours just staring at the books lying in front of him.

The door slid open and Luke walked in. Danny looked over his shoulder at his entrance. The boy walked over and sat down next to Danny and looked at the books.

"What have you been doing all this time?" Luke asked.

"Looking at maps. There is an underground system of tunnels and rooms under the city. The only issue is that I can't figure out where they could start that has a room connected. It makes no sense."

"You need to take a break and a deep breath."

"I know but I can't."

"Just try. You seem like you need help."

"I do. It's my pride that won't let me ask for it," Danny said, leaning back to lie down on the hard, wooden floor.

"I'm gonna go get Katherine," Luke said, getting up. "If you won't ask, I will."

Danny ran a hand through his hair and lay on the floor, thinking.

The door opened again. Danny turned around to see the entire team walk in and sit in a circle around the books in the floor.

He sat up and watched as they all looked at him.

"'Stand together or fall alone'," Peter said. "You said that to me two months ago."

Danny smiled at his friends. His family. "You should've told me how annoying I get."

* * *

"What's that?" Luke asked pointing to something on the map he was looking at.

They had been searching for anywhere that could match Katherine's description.

"It's just the fields," Katherine explained.

Danny looked over at Luke's book. "I didn't see that earlier. The tunnels connect to the fields, Katherine. It's the emergency supplies they started keeping after the war."

"You're right. There are a few buildings that are connected to the stores. I can't believe we didn't remember that. We've been gone too long."

"What are we waiting for?" Sam asked. "Let's go."

Danny was the first to walk out the door. The team followed him down the hall. The boy stopped in his tracks when he heard Lei Kung talking. He recognized the other voice. He quickly backed away. He grabbed Katherine's wrist and whispered rapidly.

"Go to my bedroom and stay there until I come and get you. Hurry."

She nodded and took off down the hall in the opposite direction. She was gone in a blink.

Danny motioned for everyone else to follow.

"Don't talk," he whispered. "Bow when I bow. Make sure you do the same hand signal."

He stopped in the doorway of the dojo.

"What I would like to talk to you about, Lei Kung, is something two of my guards alerted me of," a man dressed in green said.

"What did they tell you?" Lei Kung asked.

The mysterious man turned his gaze to the teenagers standing in the doorway.

"I believe Daniel would be interested in what I have to say."

Danny walked further into the room and bowed. "Namaste, Yu-Ti."

"Namaste, Iron Fist," he answered in a monotone voice. "Who are your friends?"

"Luke, Peter, and Sam," he answered, gesturing to each mentioned boy.

"How did you all get here?"

"The Randall Machine. S.H.I.E.L.D. has permission to use it. We are all agents sent from the agency."

"Fair enough. I have made an alliance with S.H.I.E.L.D. in the recent years. I am not angered to see you. I was angered, though, to hear what my guards had to tell me. Would you like to know?"

"Yes."

"That, earlier yesterday evening, when you four crossed over, there was a girl with you. Am I correct?"

"Yes. She is also an agent. I did not believe there would be an issue if I brought her with us."

"What is her name?"

"Ava Ayala."

"Really? I have reason to believe that you crossed over with Katherine Malince. The same Katherine Malince that betrayed our great city. The same Katherine Malince that betrayed the great Iron Fist, Daniel Rand-K'ai."

"What would make you say that?" Danny asked, using the same monotone.

"I have my reasons."

"I can assure you, Katherine is not in K'un-Lun."

Yu-Ti walked up closer so he was looking Danny right in the eye. The boy did not flinch. He just stood there with his hands held behind his back.

"Of course not. I just found it a bit suspicious when I heard Iron Fist had an arm around the waist of a girl, short in stature, dressed in complete black. Let's say it… reminded me of a sight that was very common in K'un-Lun for four years."

"Katherine is not here. Only my girlfriend, Ava. That is the girl I was walking with."

"May I meet this Ava?" Yu-Ti asked, unconvinced.

"She is in her room, indecent. Maybe another time soon."

"Oh well. I will be sure to come by to visit her. I would honored to meet the girl that has so easily replaced Katherine."

Danny's first began to glow behind him in anger and he gritted his teeth.

"Of course," the teen responded.

"How is tomorrow, for dinner, Lei Kung?"

"It would be an honor to have you," Lei Kung responded with a flat expression.

"Then tomorrow it is. I cannot wait to meet her." Everyone bowed deeply again, then he was gone.

"Who was that?" Sam asked when everyone could finally breathe.

"The Yu-Ti," Lei Kung responded. "He's K'un-Lun's equivalent of royalty. He's our ruler. He is a cruel man. No matter the circumstances, he would arrest and kill Katherine if he were to see her."

"We have to find Ava and get out of K'un-Lun soon."

"Have you figured out where she is yet?" Lei Kung asked.

"We think she's in the emergency stores under the city," Luke said.

"Go, but don't take Katherine with you."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Katherine had been furious when she found out. She still wanted to go, claiming she was not afraid of Yu-Ti. In the end, she stayed with Lei Kung.

The streets were familiar for Danny. He knew every in and out of the city. They were in the fields in no time.

The four boys were crowding around the maps, trying to find their destination.

"It's that one," Luke said, pointing to a house not too far from where they stood.

As they walked closer, they noticed there was a candle lit in the window. Someone was walking around inside.

The figure walked to the window and pushed the curtains out of the way.

When she saw them, she ran.

"Margret," Danny whispered.

The group took off toward the house and burst through the door. They checked every door until they found the stairs.

"You guys ready?" Luke asked.

Everyone nodded their consent.

"I'm coming, Ava," was Danny's final thought before they made their decent into darkness.


	17. Chapter 16

******************Disclaimer: I don't own Ultimate Spider Man. Only the characters Katherine and Margret.**

* * *

**CHAPTER16:**

The end of the stairs had only a door. There was muffled yelling behind the door along with Margret's cruel scream.

"How dare you!? How dare you call them!? I should kill you now for this! You would deserve it!"

"Power Man, can you get the door open?" Spider-Man asked.

"Yeah."

He put all his weight into it and threw his shoulder against the barricaded door.

The process continued without success.

"Man, that hurts," Power Man said, rubbing his sore shoulder. "Your turn Iron Fist."

Iron Fist walked up to the door and closed his eyes. He let out a deep breath and his fist began to glow. He ran his hand across the upper part of the door.

He knocked lightly on the wood then opened his eyes. He took a few steps back up. Iron Fist sucked in a quick, deep breath and threw his foot out in a hard kick.

His momentum shattered the door and boxes went everywhere.

When the dust cleared, the four boys all stood in fighting stances.

To their surprise, they only saw one person in the room.

Ava sat tied to a chair and gagged. Her costume was dirty, bloodstained, and torn everywhere. She had cuts on her face, arms, and legs. All in all, she was in bad shape. They could tell she had not had enough to eat or drink. Her face was sunken and she was skinnier than ever.

Iron Fist ran across the room towards her. His companions followed.

She was squirming in her chair.

"Ava, calm down," Nova said.

Danny pulled off his mask to look her in the eyes. He untied the fabric at the back of her head and the gag fell from her mouth. Tears fell from her multicolored eyes. The heroes were not surprised to find her in this condition.

"Above you," came her weak voice.

Margret was in the corner of the room, propped up where the wall met the ceiling.

She dropped down with elegance, landing perfectly on the balls of her feet. Her face was adorned with a cruel smile.

The team reacted immediately.

Spider-Man yelled out rushed orders as he got into a fighting stance.

"Danny, get Ava out of here. Nova, Power Man, with me. Let's go team."

Danny's fingers shook as he tried to untie Ava's bonds. They were knotted and soaked with blood. He thought quickly as he pulled a knife from his waistband. Katherine had given it to him before they had left. "Just in case," she had said.

He cut the ropes around her wrists before his action were interrupted. Margret began to aim at him and Ava.

"Not so fast," the woman snarled.

Spider-Man lay unconscious on the floor. Nova and Power Man continued to block attacks from Margret.

Danny worked faster. He cut the ropes around the girl's ankles then stood.

"I've had enough of you," he said to the woman across the room. His fist began to glow and he ran at her. They were going hand-to-hand. Danny's skill level was better, but Margret's speed gave her the upper hand.

Before he knew what had happened, he was thrown against a wall and fell to the floor hard.

Everyone was down and disoriented except for Ava and Margret.

The latter launched a knife at the former. It was just a blur, but Ava caught it perfectly in her hands.

Her eyes were glowing as they slowly returned to their natural brown color.

She bent down and picked up the knives around her feet. Ava looked at Margret with hatred in her eyes. Then, she fought back.

Ava threw a perfectly thrown knife that caught Margret's sleeve and pulled her back.

"That's for hurting my friends," Ava said.

She threw another.

"My family."

Another.

"Your daughter."

Two more went flying.

"My boyfriend and me."

Margret was shocked and frightened as Ava did this. She did not react.

Ava continued her sequence.

"This is for keeping me locked up in a basement for three weeks. For invading my mind, my secrets."

Ava walked closer as Margret became pinned to the wall with her own weapons.

The teen hero radiated power as she positioned her last knife and opened her mouth to speak.

"And, lastly, one just for getting on my bad side."

Ava glowed purple as she threw the knife that should have pierced the woman's heart.

It just missed, curved to the side, and landed so close to Margret's skin, she shivered.

"Just be happy I'm merciful," Ava whispered to the restrained woman.

The other three heroes staggered to their feet and went in separate directions.

Nova, Spider-Man, and Power Man began to remove the knives. Power Man brought her to her knees and Spider-Man placed handcuffs firmly on her wrists. "You're under arrest." Nova said, showing his badge. He read her rights and charges, Power Man pulled her from the ground and pushed her out the door and up the stairs.

Ava collapsed on the floor when Danny reached her. He caught her frail form easily in his arms. "You came," she said.

"Of course I did. It just took more time than anticipated," he said softly, picking her up into his arms.

"I missed you Danny."

"Ava, you may never know how much I missed you."

She laid her head against his chest and smiled for the first time in weeks.

"I love you. I never knew what I meant when I said it before. Now, I do."

"I've never loved anyone more than I love you." They were silent for a few moments as they walked through the fields in the dark. Then, Danny had a thought. "What does 'Silently screaming' mean?"

She laughed. "'Silence is the most powerful scream.' It's a metaphor for defiance."

Danny laughed lightly and placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"I cannot express how much I love you."


	18. Chapter 17

******************Disclaimer: I don't own Ultimate Spider Man. Only the characters Katherine and Margret.**

* * *

**CHAPTER17:**

The next few days were long. Ava was too weak to travel so they stayed in K'un-Lun. Ava rarely got up. Danny and Katherine did their best with healing her, but modern medicine was still essential.

"Lei Kung got in contact with Fury," Danny said one day. "He told the council what has happened and is sending agents to come get us. They'll be here in a few days."

Everyone just smiled. They enjoyed K'un-Lun enough but were happy to be going home finally. They would get a break from everything. No one had had enough sleep for nearly two months. They were grateful to be back in their beds.

Yu-Ti was left in the dark about everything. The less he knew the better. As far as he was concerned, Danny had gotten sick and did not want to infect the ruler of the city. They would leave in the night so they would not be caught by the guards.

Danny never left Ava's side. And she was happy with their routine. She had no contact with anyone but Margret for three weeks.

Margret was kept hidden. Fury was making sure to send backup to take her back to New York. After they stripped her of her weapons, Margret had no real abilities.

They found the Jade Tiger amulets. Lei Kung said to take them. Ava was going to keep them. Possibly, even use them eventually. That was if Nick ever decided to let her off the helicarrier again. He had lost agents before but it scared him to the core to lose a teenage girl.

Awilda had been called after Ava was found. She and Raleigh were overjoyed to know Ava was all right. That they would see her again.

Danny was sitting next to Ava on her bed. She had her head on his shoulder and they were in a comfortable silence.

"It's almost funny how our situations have been reversed," Ava said, breaking the silence.

Danny just looked at her. "Funny?" he finally asked.

"Yes, funny. I never thought this would be us. Me, lying sick in bed in an alternate dimension. You, never leaving me, making sure I'm comfortable."

"You make us sound so strange."

They both laughed. They both smiled and laughed a lot more now. Things were easier to enjoy together.

Ava thought for a minute before speaking again. "I wouldn't change it. We wouldn't have any fun if we were a normal couple who went to the movies and dinner."

"We would be more traditional that way."

"I don't want traditional. There is no fun in that at all. I've spent most of my life trying to find normal. Now, I understand there isn't such a thing."

Danny raised an eyebrow at her statement. "How so?"

"Normal is only what society deems average. Normal is who you are, not what the world wants you to be."

The fell into silence again. Then, Danny spoke. "You need to go to Puerto Rico when you're better."

"Why?"

"Fury went and saw your family when we thought you died. They've been mourning for weeks. He called them when I got out the message you were okay. They want to see you."

"Only if you go with me."

"Are you sure your sister will approve of you bringing your boyfriend to Puerto Rice with you?"

"I don't care about what Awilda thinks."

"Ava, there is something we need to talk about. Fury wanted me to talk to you. I told him you would never agree, but I would try."

"What's wrong?"

"He thinks it's in your best interest if you move back in with your sister and brother-in-law."

"You mean, quit the team and move back to Puerto Rico? No. Not happening. I left for a reason. I have no intentions of ever going back for more than two weeks on vacation. Why would he even say that?"

"Awilda and Raleigh miss you. They want you to come home. And they worry about you. They're afraid of you getting hurt even worse. They thought they lost you, Ava. I can't even imagine what happened to them psychologically when Fury had to send a letter saying you were dead. They've raised you since you were nine. If Lei Kung thought I had died then he found out I was alive, he wouldn't even have given me the courtesy of asking me to come home. He would fly to New York, robes and sandals and all, and drag me back here to K'un-Lun by my mask."

Ava laughed at his statement. "I can't go back, Danny. You know that. I love my life and this team. They may be my biological family, but I was never that close to them. I was only really close to Hector and Angela growing up. I've always been the youngest, the baby of the family. Awilda took me in because she was the only person left in the family who was able to take care of a kid still. As much as I love them, I can't go back. And, think about this. I would miss you. I couldn't bear these last three weeks. And there is no way you would move to Puerto Rico. You have the team and your business. A-"

Danny cut off her rant with a light kiss. "Okay, okay," he said laughing. "You don't have to move back to Puerto Rico. But, we still have to go visit your family."

Ava settled back into her previous position. "Good. I will always choose you. I wouldn't go back, just because I love you."

"I love you too, Ava."

Suddenly, the door to Ava's room slid opened and Katherine walked in.

"Daniel, why don't you let me have some girl time with Ava. Do you remember what I said to you on the plane ride here?"

Danny looked down and scratched at the back of his neck. "Uh, yeah. I should probably go do that. We leave tonight. It's now or never."

"What's going on?" Ava asked.

"It's nothing," Danny said, giving her another light kiss. "I just have to go talk to someone."

* * *

Danny knocked tentatively on the door.

"Come in, " said a voice from within.

He slid the door open and slowly walked in.

"Daniel, is something wrong?"

"Actually, Lei Kung, I need to talk to you about something."

The man raised an eyebrow and invited the boy to sit down.

"What is it?"

"Well, it's about Ava."


	19. Epilogue

**A/N we have finally reached the end of this story. I can't believe how long this took. I guess an injury can do that to you. They are 18 in my story and they are about to graduate. It works better for , enjoy. And be waiting for The Beginning of the End. R&R!**

******************Disclaimer: I don't own Ultimate Spider Man. Only the characters Katherine and Margret.**

* * *

**EPILOGUE:**

**Six Months Later**

May 12, 2013

It has been exactly six months since they had been reunited. They have been dating as in actually going out on dates for five of those months.

It took a full month of recovery before Ava was ready to leave the helicarrier after they got back from K'un-Lun.

Sometime around March was when the helicarrier blew up in New York Harbor. The team of superheroes had been living in the Parker household together since then.

Around April is when May had finally found out the secret. It was hard for her not to realize something was going on.

Every day the five heroes left early, even on the weekends. Every day they would came back late.

_May was supposed to be out with her friends that weekend. She was going camping for a long weekend. She had trusted her nephew and his friends to be responsible._

_ She knew Peter would never do anything bad. She knew Ava and Katherine would not either. May pretty much trusted everyone not to do anything stupid except for Sam. _

_ Peter had been left home so many times before he was guaranteed not to do anything bad. While she did not like leaving him with his girlfriend for a weekend, May knew Peter and Katherine were good kids. She also knew Peter would never disobey his aunt's rules._

_ Ava was a trustworthy person. She was dedicated to her schoolwork and would never dream of getting in trouble. She respected May Parker and therefore would not break her rules._

_Katherine was just like Ava. The girl was intelligent and never did anything stupid or bad. _

_Luke may have done something slightly reckless but he had his friends to make sure he was good and staid in line. Also, he was obedient and did everything May said. _

_Danny was quiet. He was not a rule breaker. The only thing that made May uncomfortable was his relationship with Ava. They had been together for months and were in a committed, strong relationship. She was finally comfortable with leaving them alone in a house together with only other teenagers after their repeated reassurances that they would be exactly like they were around her._

_The only one out of this group of six May Parker did not completely trust was Sam. She was worried to leave him. He was a hard worker in the house but also had a wild side. May was finally all right with leaving when she realized how all of his friends kept him on the straight and narrow. _

_So, that weekend, she left for her camping trip. She would be gone for three day. _

_The team followed the normal routine that had always made May so suspicious. They left early for training that morning and came back to the house late that night. _

_But, on that night, they had been called out on a mission. The Frightful Four had decided to rob a bank. In the middle of the night._

"_I cannot believe Web Head here was thrown into a wall and I didn't get a video of it," Nova said, supporting half of Peter's weight on his shoulder._

"_Shut up, Nova," Iron Fist said. He was supporting Peter's other side._

_Spider Man had been thrown into a wall and was knocked unconscious. The Frightful Four were arrested but the boy was injured. Black Sapphire had taken off his mask to use to sop up the blood pouring from his nose. Now, Power Man walked in front of him to hide his face from view not that there was anyone to see the group walking through the small neighborhood in queens in the dead of night. _

_Nova and Iron Fist each had one of Peter's arms thrown over their shoulders and were half carrying half dragging him back to the house. White Tiger and Black Sapphire were walking behind the four boys so that they would be out of the way. _

"_We're all exhausted. We don't want to hear your mouth running at two in the morning," Iron Fist said._

"_Iron Fist," his girlfriend said, warning him to keep _his_ mouth shut._

"_Sorry."_

_They continued silently to the Parkers' house where Danny, Ava, and Katherine could take care of his injuries. Ava was still learning so tonight would be a learning experience in healing with chi. _

_Finally, they made it home. Power Man opened the door with Peter's key and let Iron Fist and Nova drag Peter in. _

_But, to their surprise, the house was not empty, as they had all expected._

"_What in the name of…" May Parker trailed off._

_White Tiger and Black Sapphire looked at each other and ran forward to semi-explain._

"_Peter!" the woman cried. "Oh my gosh! What happened to Peter? Why is he dressed like that?" she yelled._

_Ava and Katherine pulled off their masks and May gasped. "What?" she said._

"_Please, Ms. Parker, forgive us. We didn't want you to find out this way. Just let us take care of Peter and then we will explain everything. Please, can you just wait in the kitchen?" Ava said frantically._

_The woman just nodded her head and walked into the kitchen praying she was dreaming._

_Ten minutes later Peter had regained consciousness and the entire team was sitting in the kitchen with a very frazzled May. Only Ava, Katherine, and Peter had revealed their identities._

_May was pacing. "Do you six want to explain to me what is going on?" she asked in a deadly calm voice. "And you three, off with the masks," she snapped as an afterthought._

_Reluctantly, they obeyed._

"_First of all, I come home because my campsite was flooded. I thought you were all in bed!" she started. "Second, I trusted all of you and you lied to me!"_

_Peter stood and put a hand on his aunt's shoulder so she would look him the eye. "I'm sorry aunt May. We have to do this. So, let's start from the beginning. We are all superheroes in a special program run by S.H.I.E.L.D. you've probably heard of that. That's the organization that organized the Avengers. Well, we're the Next Avengers. Every day we go to the temporary headquarters to train. My friends' apartment building didn't burn down. They all lived on the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier that blew up about a month ago. I can't tell you everything because pretty much everything else is classified and we could get in a lot of trouble for telling you._

"_We can tell you our names and powers though."_

_The other five all gave mutters of assent at letting her know._

"_I am Black Sapphire. I have super speed, I'm an empath, I know every type of martial arts known to man, and I am skilled with any weapon you can name," Katherine explained._

"_I am Power Man," Luke started. "I have bullet proof skin and super strength."_

_Next was Sam. "I'm Nova. My helmet gives me the powers to fly and shoot either beams of heat or energy from my hands."_

"_I am White Tiger," Ava said. "My amulets heighten my acrobatic abilities and give me the agility of a cat. They also increase my stamina. I possess super speed and I am an empath."_

"_I am Iron Fist," Danny said. "I can summon my chi to increase the strength in my right fist making it like iron. I am also skilled with pretty much all weapons and I know all the forms of martial arts."_

_Last was Pater. "And I am Spider Man," he said." I can stick to and climb walls. I have super strength that is the equivalent of a spider's just with my body mass. I also have heightened acrobatic abilities._

"_Please, aunt May. Don't be angry. I'm so sorry we lied. But, we had to. I've been Spider-Man since uncle Ben died. Everyone else has their own stories. I just want you to forgive us."_

"_I'm a little aggravated. You all could have been hurt. In fact, I know you all have been hurt. I watch the news."_

"_We can't stop. This is who we are," Peter said. "These are our lives. If we weren't superheroes we wouldn't be the same."_

"_I know Peter. While I'm aggravated, I can get over it. I think the less I know the better though. You can all stay. I'm not going to kick you out just because you're different. Just… be careful."_

So, May Parker accepted the news and went with it.

Everyone is counting down to graduation now. It was only 24 days away. Everyone in the team was now 18. Well, everyone but Ava. She will not be 18 until June.

Tonight is Danny and Ava's eight-month anniversary. They are not celebrating but it will most definitely be a memorable night.

They were sitting on top of the Rand Int. building in New York City. The city was gorgeous when it was lit up at night. They could not hear the cars and talking down below in the city that never sleeps.

Danny just stared at Ava. She was the most beautiful thing in the world in his eyes. She had her head lying on his shoulder as the pair sat in silence looking out at the sea of lights.

He was playing with her hair with his head resting on top of hers. His other hand was in his pocket. If he could freeze this moment and live in it for the rest of his life, he would. Most people would look at the scene and laugh saying they would not last but a few more months.

Maybe they would make it. Maybe they would not. Only time can tell. All that mattered in that moment was that they were together.

It is times like these that are important in life. The perfect ones are what need to be remembered.

Now was the perfect time. There was nothing better than right now.

That is what motivated Danny.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too."

"Ava," he said, shifting so they were looking in each other's eyes. "Ava, I need to ask you something."

"What is it?" she asked. She was genuinely confused.

Danny pulled his hand out of his pocket and took a deep breath.

He opened his hand and said, "Ava, I love you more than anything. You are my other half, my one and only. I know we are young, but this feels right.

"Will you marry me?"

The world stopped. Everything was silent, waiting for her answer as she looked down at the breath-taking white gold engagement ring in his hand.

She could not breathe. Her world was spinning. Everything was shifting. Nothing was staying the same. In that moment, Ava saw her future. Everything that she can have. Everything that could be.

She opened her mouth and looked Danny straight in the eyes when she answered.

"Yes."


End file.
